


A Place to Call Home

by SeverusSnapeFan



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Accidents, Adorable Tony Stark, Age Regression/De-Aging, Canon-Typical Violence, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Iron Man 2, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Past Child Abuse, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Hulk, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Rhodey, Protective Team, cute tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-05-02 12:49:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 53,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5248835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeverusSnapeFan/pseuds/SeverusSnapeFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had a bad feeling that something was going to go wrong, but he was a scientist and feelings wasn't concrete evidence and so he ignored. Tony Stark really wished he had of listened to his gut, because he hadn't he was now in the body of his child self and all the baggage that came with it. Could this day get any worse?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Second Chance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4098811) by [StonyAvengerGirl16 (CharmedBritannia)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharmedBritannia/pseuds/StonyAvengerGirl16). 



> I've been in an Avengers kick for the past few months I have wanted to update any of my Harry Potter fanfics. So I figured I could see if I could write one of these. Tell me what you think I have a few things in an outline for this story, its gonna be like 5 chapters or less, not sure yet. I was inspired by a shit ton of fics on this site and on Fanfiction, I'll leave a link to the story below if I can.

Tony shook his head as he looked over the battle, feeling in his gut that this was going to end badly. It wasn't like him to assume the worse especially since he and his team had been getting along better. What was causing his ominous tones was the fact that his day started off as crummy as could be. He woke up with a nightmare, and turned to look for Pepper for comfort only to remember that she broke up with him 2 months ago. 

Tony had to deal with the panic attack attached to the nightmare alone before he spent a few hours in his lab fixing up one of his suits. He had somehow managed to engage one of his foot repulsors and blasted a hole in his workshop. To make matters worse Captain Fucking America decided to be all uppity and chew him out for it. This was his goddamn tower and if he wanted to destroy it, he would.

On top of that Barton was spying on his in his vents and Bruce seemed to be giving him a disappointed look. He sighed and shook his head as he said it wasn't his day. Tony shook the thought away before he focused back on the battle. His lips curled into to a sneer as he saw the battle. Who in their right mind decided to animate vegetables and then give them the ability to fight?

Like seriously, this was as lame as could be, not to mention he hated magic. Why on earth did the magic users decide to come out to play now? He just knew this was Loki's fault. He grumbled softly to himself suddenly aware that he could hear someone calling his name.

"Sir, Captain Rogers has been calling for a status report for the past five minutes. I suggest answering him before he decides to send Mr. Odinson to see for himself," JARVIS told the man.

Tony made a face not that anyone could see from where the mask was hiding his face before he switched on his comms link. "Cap, I'm fine, I’m just doing aerial work," he drawled out.

"For god’s sake Stark was that so hard to answer? Start taking out what you can. Thor has located the wizard and is currently in the middle of the battle with him. Do not engage," Steve told him firmly.

"I hate magic I'm not gonna go taunt it," Tony said in a moment of clarity. He sighed and turned to where Thor was before flew down to the fight to watch. He was serious, why tempt fate that was the least thing he needed, and that was saying something. He had just blasted through of what looked like some demon salad when he felt something behind him. Tony had only a moment to turn before a blue light suddenly surrounded him.

"Shit," he managed to say before he blacked out.

"Man of Iron is down," Thor suddenly stated before he threw Mjolnir at the wizard who had caught his comrade unawares. 

"What?" Clint asked quietly, though he had heard the God perfectly clear.

The Avengers turned to where the Iron man Suit was currently laying on the ground, deathly still. 

"Stark report!" Steve shouted into the comms, frowning as he got no answer. "Tony! Answer me dammit," he added besides himself at this point. 

"I will go and check on him," Thor stated after all the wizard was currently stuck underneath his hammer and so he knew the being wasn't going anywhere. That being said all the animated vegetables had fallen once the man had. But before Thor could even reach the man of Iron, the suit in question suddenly took off in the air.

The Avengers watched in horror as the suit took off back towards the tower without seeming like Tony was even steering it. Steve had a moment of mild panic before realizing that JARVIS had probably taken control of it.

"Widow you and Barton on the debrief with Fury, and Thor and I will see what needs to be done with the wizard. Afterwards make your way to the tower, chances are Stark is injured and hiding it," Steve ordered his team in his Captain voice.

“And me?” Bruce had after changing back from the Hulk once it became apparent that Tony wasn’t getting up.

“You’re with me and Thor, we’re definitely going to need your expertise,” Steve added as he headed over to the Quinjet with his teammates.

Once they were on the jet Steve nodded to Natasha to go, knowing they would get dropped off at the tower first while her and Clint would head on down to SHIELD. He figured Tony might be more receptive to getting aid if his whole team wasn’t there to see his injuries. As it was, he had no idea if Tony had a concussion or worst for that matter, he shook his head before he suddenly realized something. Why did he keep forgetting about JARVIS? He cleared his throat for a moment, hoping that the AI would bring good news.

“Hey JARVIS, how is Tony doing?” Steve asked knowing the AI was connected in the Quinjet, Stark was nothing if not thorough.

“Sir is, not himself at the moment. It would be advisable if the Avengers would make haste getting back to the tower,” Jarvis stated carefully.

Bruce frowned, even he could hear the hesitation in the AI’s voice and that new, that just didn’t happen. “Is Tony hurt?”

“I cannot explain it, you need to be in the tower to see for yourself,” Jarvis replied in kind.

“Can’t or won’t?” Natasha asked, after having been surprisingly quiet.

Steve frowned as the AI went quiet once more, and he blew out a breath in frustration. For Jarvis not to tell them he had to assume that Tony gave the command. After all the AI followed his every command and for him not to share something with the team he only had to figure that was Stark’s doing. He growled in agitation but there was nothing he could do about it. Thankfully the ride to the tower was quick and Thor and Bruce and Steve were soon on the landing pad and heading inside the tower. 

Once inside, they all froze as one as they heard the lock from the door. It wasn’t an issue for the three of them getting out if they needed too; it was just why Jarvis had locked them inside in the first place.

“Jarvis, what is going on?” Bruce asked carefully.

“The wizard did something to sir, and he is currently hiding. I locked the doors to stop him from leaving not to keep you in,” Jarvis explained.

“Where is he?” Steve asked slowly.

“Young sir, please come out from behind the sofa, there are people here wish to make sure you’re okay,” Jarvis stated gently.

Tony wanted to shake his head in disbelief as he looked up at the ceiling even though he knew having created Jarvis that the AI didn’t originate there. He knew immediately when Jarvis had returned to him to the tower straightaway that something had happened to him. He wasn’t sure what until he had been in his lab and the suit was clearing away from his body. He remembered looking in the mirror in the workshop and freezing at the sight of himself. No amount of pinching his arm had him waking up from the sight. Just why in the world did the wizard think him being reverted to his child self was ever going to be okay? He shuddered as he forcefully pushed down the childish feelings; he needed to maintain his adult mind for his sanity and he refused to get lost in the stupid childhood emotions. 

He wasn’t even sure what age he was, he had always been a small child, and he guessed maybe four as the scar he received from when he made his first circuit board was currently red and fresh. He swallowed thickly as he looked up again, he could hear his teammates but he didn’t want them to see him like this. But he knew he didn’t have a choice and simply blew out a breath before he slowly appeared from behind the couch.

“Tony? Jarvis, is that Tony?” Bruce asked in disbelief as he looked at the small child dwarfed in a Black Sabbath t-shirt he knew belonged to Tony.

“It is, I’ve scanned his body to determine if the spell had any ill effects and to see which age he was reverted too,” Jarvis explained.

“And your findings were?” Bruce asked slowly.

“Young sir is 4 years and 3 months old, weighing approximately 27lbs. He is a bit underweight for his current age group, but I do not think it was the wizard’s doing,” Jarvis explained.

“Tony was a very small child, I’ve seen pictures,” Bruce added, before Steve could interject. He also knew that not all of it was genetics but he wasn’t about to put Tony’s business out there.

“Shouldn’t we still get him checked out at SHIELD, just to be safe?” Steve piped in. He hated the fact that Tony's size was bringing his own memories of when he was that small back way when.

“No that would be the worse thing you can do, if Fury needs to know bring him here,” Bruce said before he bent down on one knee. He remembered his childhood, and he knew that adults looked like giants to small children and he didn’t want Tony afraid of him.

“”Do we know if his adult mind is still there?” Steve asked after a small moment of silence.

“I’m not sure, sir hasn’t spoken since his transformation,” Jarvis replied honestly.

“That’s probably a no, Stark would be throwing his displeasure around wanting everyone to know it if he was still in his adult mind,” Steve mused.

Thor frowned as he took a seat on the floor, following the good doctor’s behavior. He knew he was bigger than most mortals and he didn’t want to frighten his small comrade.  
“Tony, can you come here please?” Bruce asked the child quietly.

Tony for his part was staring between Thor and Bruce on the floor, aware that they were trying to make themselves seem less threatening. If he had his adult body he would have laughed as both men still looked just as big not to mention dangerous to his chiod mind. Though he knew that they weren't going to hurt him. For a moment he had been about to speak to let them know that he still had his mind but then Steve had spoken and he had lost his nerve.

He was very much aware that most of his team only tolerated him; at least that’s what he thought anyway. He didn’t want to give them a reason to resent him anymore, and so he was better off staying quiet. Besides no one would take him seriously when he looked like that, he knew that from experience. He didn’t want to get them angry with him so he slowly walked over towards the two men on the floor. 

He was absolutely refusing to look up at Steve, as he could literally feel the childish glee inside of him. He knew that Steve was Captain America and had long gotten over his hero worship, but the young body he was in was very much in love and it was definitely a struggle not to gaze at the man with wide wonder filled eyes.

Bruce was breathing steadily glancing at Thor who was gently rolling Mjolnir in his hands. He knew the man was pretending to look preoccupied with the hammer so as not to freak the child out with both their eyes on him. That being said, the scientist couldn’t help but wonder if the man could have used something else as a distraction as Tony was now staring right at it.

“Can I touch it?” Tony asked, his voice a higher pitch then he had remembered. He had to stop himself from wincing at the tone, his gaze locked on Thor’s hammer. He had been fascinated with the hammer ever since finding out that Norse Gods actually existed. 

“No you may not, that’s Thor’s not yours,” Steve answered before Thor could. The super soldier didn't want the child to get hurt, especially if Thor wasn't careful. It was hard to wrap his head around it as he could not picture this small child as his crazy and coffee addicted team mate. He shook his head, unsure of how this happened, nor how long this would last.

Tony frowned, his eyes flashing angrily to the Captain before he sighed as the childish feeling set in. At the moment he was feeling a stab of betrayal on the hero worship as the child part of him couldn’t understand why Captain America would tell him no. He hadn’t even done anything wrong.

Bruce cleared his throat bringing the child’s attention back to him. “Tony are you hungry?”

Tony shrugged; he didn’t particularly feel like using his voice again, at least not with Rogers present. He sighed before gave a reluctant nod before he turned to Thor and reached up at the man in the Universal sign for carry me.

Bruce grinned despite of it all. “Come on Thor, he wants you to pick him up, and let’s head to kitchen to fix him some food. Hopefully Natasha and Clint won’t have killed the wizard,” he grumbled knowing that they all could at times be very protective of their teammates.

Thor grinned and happily obliged, gently picking up the child and setting him on his shoulders. He heard a childish giggle and a wide smile overtook his own face. Children were such easy beings to please.

Tony was looking around the tower from this height and understood just why Clint liked being on top of everything. You could see for miles up here, he quickly ducked his head as Thor went through the doorway not wanting to get his head bonked. He giggled as he chanced a look at Bruce’s face.

“Be careful Thor,” Bruce admonished but seeing Tony was alright he turned to grab some jelly out of the refrigerator. If nothing else he knew that the boy would eat a pb&j sandwich.  
Thor glanced at the man in confusion before he looked up at his small package. “Alright young Anthony?”

“I’m fine,” Tony replied swiftly as he tried to get a look at what Bruce was making. He frowned as he realized something. “Where’s Cap’n ‘Merica?” He asked wondering where in the heck the other man had gone.

“He’s in the other room talking with a few members of our team,” Bruce answered absently.

Tony had a moment of mild panic as he realized that Natasha and Clint were obviously back. He only had a moment to attempt to compose himself before they suddenly appeared in the kitchen only to freeze as they caught sight of him.

“He’s smaller then you said Captain, you said he was at least four, that is not a four year old on Thor’s shoulders,” Clint replied slowly.

“Tony’s always been small and underweight, even now he’s smaller then everyone including Natasha,” Bruce replied quickly. 

“But that doesn’t make any sense, we’ve seen his parents and neither of them were small,” Clint protested.

“It doesn’t matter now, what matters is Tony is fine and currently about to have some food. What did you guys find out with the wizard?” Bruce replied ever the peace keeper.

“He’s currently in a coma; Thor’s hammer got him good. Not that we blame the big guy, but until he wakes up we just don’t know at this point. But Fury is working on it,” Natasha answered smoothly.

“We’ll talk about this later, for now Tony’s gonna eat,” Bruce replied as he caught the attentive look on the child at their conversation before he reached to grab him from Thor’s shoulders.  
Tony allowed the motion, a warm and foreign feeling spreading throughout his body as he was hugged for a moment before getting set in a chair to eat. He recognized it as comfort, he had known he had been touched starved as a child, just look at the way he was now. 

“Why is he so quiet? He hasn’t spoken since we’ve gotten here,” Clint pointed out with a frown. He hung back by the door with Natasha not wanting to spook the child.

“He’s just taking in the situation, besides Jarvis he really has no idea who we even are at this point. I’m only just happy he isn’t screaming and crying and accusing us of being kidnappers,” Bruce admitted.

Steve gave a quiet gasp. “What do you mean kidnappers? Why would he even think that?”

“Public record has it that Stark was kidnapped a least a dozen times before he turned 6. And before he reached such age, his father paid each and every ransom, after the aforementioned age, the payment stopped,” Natasha stated bluntly as she tried to catch the child’s eye. She was very much aware that he was avoiding her eyes, and wondered why that was.

“It’s not important right now anyway,” Bruce replied refusing to allow the anger to take like he so wanted too. “How’s your sandwich Tony? Did you want some milk with it?”

Tony glanced up at Bruce before he nodded before he turned back to his plate. It was irrational but Natasha scared the bejeebers out of him, and that fear only got more pronounced the longer she stared at him. He wondered idly if she knew that he had his mind before he mentally scoffed. She was a spy but short of reading his mind she had no clue just like them.

“Young Anthony did ask for the good Captain before,” Thor pointed out before turning to look at Steve. “He knew who you were without us even needing to confirm it,”

Steve perked up at that and came into the kitchen a bit more. “Tony, do you know me?” He asked unable to keep the bit of hope out of his voice. If Tony knew who he was then there was a chance that a part of his adult mind was still there.

“You’re Cap’n ‘Merica, did my daddy find you?” Tony blurted out before he visibly cringed. He had to bite the inside of his cheek at his outburst, as that was not what he had intended to say at all at all. 

Steve felt his face fall before he could catch himself before he gave the child a smile. “No he didn’t, but I’m here now,” he said lightly.

Tony frowned before he returned to his sandwich, turning to give Bruce a smile of thanks as he finished up his food.

“At least you don’t have to force him to eat,” Clint murmured out softly.

“Yeah that may be true, but he’s a picky eater at this age so there is that,” Natasha murmured.

“How do you know all this?” Steve asked after a moment.

“I read his file,” she replied simply. “I’m going to change out of my uniform and then we’ll settle in the entertainment room and watch a movie. Fury promised to stop by later,” she said before she left out the room.

“Furry’s coming?” Tony asked, surprise in his voice. The rational and adult part of his mind was tired of fighting the childish impulses and so for the moment he was letting 4 year old him speak. And baby him knew exactly who Fury was as well, and he knew he was safe. Fury actually liked him when he was kid, though that could be because he hated Howard. Tony didn't actually know if he was being honest.

“You know Fury?” Bruce asked in disbelief.

“He watches me sometimes when daddy goes to work,” Tony replied honestly.

“What about your mommy? Why can’t she watch you while your daddy works?” Clint wondered.

“Cause she has more important stuff to do and I’ll just be in da way,” he replied smartly before he carefully got off the chair. “Can we watch a movie like the lady said?” He asked hopefully.

“We can, just give us a moment to get cleaned up and we’ll set it up alright?” Steve replied carefully, not liking the feeling stirring in his gut at the implications at the child’s words. 

“While you wait, did you want some cookies to snack on?” Clint asked him easily getting the Oreos out of the cabinet as he spoke. 

“Uh huh,” Tony replied quickly so happy he still had his milk. 

He giggled softly to himself; pretty sure he already liked the people in charge of him. He wasn’t sure where his daddy was but since the last thing he remembered was breaking a beaker in his father’s lab he wasn’t in a hurry to find out. He knew he would be in for it, and too prolong the inevitable he was definitely all for it. 

“If you need something ask Jarvis, he’ll help you,” Bruce told him as he led him back out to the sofa. After making sure the little boy was settled they headed into their own rooms to change. 

Steve caught up with Bruce as they both headed to the elevator. “How much do you know about Tony’s childhood?” He asked quietly.

“Quite a lot, there is a reason he and I bonded so quickly,” he stated carefully before he shook his head. He and Tony had been dealt a hard hand but he knew it wasn’t his place to tell as this wasn’t his story.

“Can you tell me some of it?” Steve asked slowly, he knew he didn’t want to hear it but he felt he needed too. He could hear some of his own words that he had spoken to Tony over the past year comparing him to Howard. If….if what Bruce was saying then he had a lot to make up for.

“That is not my place, so no Steve I can’t,” Bruce replied as he stepped onto the elevator. He didn’t want to leave Tony alone for too long, even as a child he knew his friend had a tendency to over think things.

Steve sighed, not really satisfied with that answer but he understood the reasoning’s nonetheless. Nothing more was said as they made their way to their respective rooms.

Back in the entertainment room Tony was obediently sitting on the couch, the child part of his mind was being gently pushed aside as he relaxed on his sofa. He glanced around for a moment to make sure no one was coming before he bit his lip. He wanted to speak with Jarvis but he knew they wouldn’t let him get to his lab and he didn’t want to risk speaking to him in case he was caught. He didn’t want to ruin this, whatever it was. 

He was starting to feel like maybe they liked him and he wanted to see where that would go. Honest he was only running an experiment that was all; at least that’s what he was trying to convince himself. He stood up and took a deep breath finally deciding on what to do, only to jump back in fear as Natasha suddenly appeared. He couldn’t help himself as he let out a screech, as he stared back at her in wide eye horror.

“I’m sorry Tony; I didn’t mean to scare you. I mean no harm малютка,” Natasha replied kindly making sure to keep a bit of a distance away from the child.

Tony was staring at the Black Widow in disbelief not to mention fear, this was new to him. She actually seemed to be sorry instead of the awful sorry she had given him that one time for stabbing him in the neck. He swallowed thickly as he gave a small nod before he sat back on the sofa.

“Do you mind if I sit here with you?” Natasha asked the child softly. She unlike Steve didn’t have to wonder why the boy was so skittish, she knew the reason.

Tony gave a jerky nod, his eyes flicking back to the open door where he could see Clint standing.

“I heard a scream, he okay Nat?” Clint asked warily as he walked inside the room.

“I frightened him, but he’s alright,” she replied as she relaxed on the sofa. She could see the tension running through his body and felt awful for putting it there. She would need to tread just a bit louder so he would be able to hear her.

Clint nodded as he took a seat on the couch in between them. He could see as he did that Tony actually blew out a breath in relief. “She’s not gonna hurt you ya know. She’s on your side,” he found himself telling the child.

Tony gave a quiet nod, as he turned back to glance at the empty doorway. Where in the heck was Bruce and Steve, not to mention Thor?

“What movie did you want to watch Tony?” Clint asked well aware that the child was feeling frightened in their presence. Usually he was happy about that, as he was facing villains but now he didn’t feel particularly good about it.

Tony shrugged as he turned back to the door anxiously before he looked at his feet. He hoped that they would contact Pepper, as the last thing he needed was to walk around in his t-shirts. Strangely he didn’t mind it but he knew it wasn’t appropriate for a boy his age. He shook his head trying to fix his jumble thoughts, he was afraid of letting the childish part of his brain out at the moment as it seemed to fear Natasha and Clint. His normal adult self tended to fear them a bit, but this fear was like terror and he didn’t want to look too deep into why that was.

“Tony, why are you afraid of both of us?” Clint asked when the child went a bit too quiet.

“You boff agents like daddy,” Tony replied softly automatically. Well he had been wondering himself about the same thing.

“Yes, but unlike daddy we won’t hurt you,” Clint replied firmly, not even wincing when Natasha elbowed him for being blunt. It was the truth after all.

“Pwomise?” Tony asked childishly.

“I promise,” Clint said sincerely.

Steve cleared his throat as he came into the room hearing the last of the conversation. He definitely had a lot to make up for once Tony came back to himself. But he would start now and once his friend was back to normal he would continue it. “So what are we watching?”

“We haven’t decided yet, but we want Tony to pick,” Natasha replied.

“What do you want to watch Tony?” Steve asked as he took a seat and pulled the small child onto his lap and cuddled him.

Tony for his part broke out in a wide grin as he was pulled onto Steve’s lap. This was new; he never thought the man would do this. He practically melted in his arms before he realized that Steve had asked him a question.

“Aristocrats, I wanna watch dat,” he informed him. No sooner had he spoke, Jarvis pulled the movie up, and Tony smiled brightly as Bruce and Thor hurried inside. The little boy reached forward to grab his milk to finish it before he settled back into Steve’s chest with a content sigh.

“That is actually not that strange, after all Captain America is good with kids,” Bruce remarked fondly as he watched them. He flicked his wrist knowing that Jarvis would know to take a picture.

“But then you have to take into account that this little boy is Tony and It’s very strange,” Clint couldn’t help but point out.

“But this is not the Tony we know, this one is afraid of us. This one fears us because he knew just by looking at us that we were SHEILD agents,” Natasha said plainly. “I don’t want to dwell into that tonight so we’ll talk about it tomorrow,” she said quickly as Steve made to say something.

“If you need anything at all, you can just ask us okay Tony? Or ask Jarvis for one of us and he’ll get one of us,” Bruce added just to make sure the little boy understood that.

Tony nodded eagerly before he settled down into the movie. The little boy didn’t say much else as he relaxed against Steve and focused on the animated film.  
Steve was gently rubbing the child’s stomach hoping the motion would soothe him to sleep; looking after this Tony wasn’t so hard. He tried hard not to think of the implications of why this one was so obedient as it would make him angry. With the soothing motions it didn’t take long for Tony to fall asleep but no one wanted to move him just yet so they continued to watch the movie.

Once the movie was finished Bruce clicked off the tv and turned to face Steve. “Do you want to put him to bed?”

“Should we put him in his room?” Steve asked skeptically.

“Well I don’t really think the Penthouse is the right place for a little boy on his own,” Bruce admitted.

“Just put him in Steve’s spare bedroom, it’s obvious he trusts only you and Bruce and to an extent Thor,” Clint replied with a shrug. He was feeling a bit weird at the moment and rightly so.

“It’ll be alright tomorrow,” Bruce murmured glancing up as Thor suddenly stood up.

“I will head to Asgard tomorrow to see if my mother might be of assistance if the wizard won’t wake up,” Thor told his teammates.

“That’s great, but just make sure Tony gets to say goodbye to you first,” Bruce reminded him.

“I will wait for young Anthony then,” he promised as he got up and headed to his room.

Steve stood up as well and headed to the elevator to lay Tony down. He hoped tomorrow would at least be good. He covered the small boy with the blanket and kissed the mop of hair. “Sleep well Tony,” he whispered before he headed back downstairs with his team, they after all had much to discuss.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tony woke up the next morning, in part thanks to the sun and in part thanks to a very nagging organ in his abdomen. He gasped as he sat up with a start and for a moment didn’t know where he was. This wasn’t his room but it was still his tower. He put his hand to where the arc reactor was currently sitting underneath his shirt. Once he could feel it he calmed down, if only slightly. He tried not to think on the fact that the device shrunk with his body, he shuddered slightly before he got control of himself.

“Young sir, are you okay?” Jarvis asked when it became apparent something seemed to be wrong with the little boy.

“I’m okay Jarvis, where am I?” Tony asked in return.

“You are in the guest quarters of Captain Rogers,” Jarvis answered him. “Would you like me to get him for you?”

“No thank you,” Tony responded quickly, his face flushing at the thought.

He could only imagine asking Steve Rogers of all people if he could use the bathroom. He shook his head as he jumped out of bed only to give an anxious dance in place as gravity weighed on his tiny child bladder. He had never really been in Steve’s suite only to give a brief tour and he didn’t feel comfortable looking around to find the bathroom. What was he supposed to do? He hated this child body and the thoughts that came with it. He was trying very hard to forget the fact that little kids could cry at a drop of a hat whether something was wrong or not. The last thing he wanted was for Clint to use this as ammunition. against him, or worse Natasha. He shook his head as his bladder reminded him of his little problem.

Jarvis was watching and only focused his eyes so to speak when it became apparent that his young master needed some help. He could see that Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers were in the kitchen making breakfast and he cleared his throat.

“If someone could please assist young sir, he has woken up and is in dire needs of the faculties,” Jarvis stated urgently

Bruce exchanged glances with Steve before he reached for the spatula the man was currently holding before ushering the man. “Go, hurry up,” he told him.

Steve was unsure of why Bruce was telling him to go, he would have figured that the man wanted to spend the time with his friend, tiny or not. He shrugged before he hurried towards the elevator and to his room.

He hurried into the guest bedroom of his suite, his eyes zoning in on the little boy who had himself wrapped up like a pretzel.

“Oh Tony,” he murmured as he hurried to the child.

“I hafta use the baffroom,” Tony told the man anxiously as if it wasn't obvious.

“I know you do, come on I’ll take you to it,” Steve told him as he carefully picked up the toddler before rushing and heading out the bathroom. 

He figured he should have asked if the child wanted him to pick him up but he didn’t see the boy making it to the toilet either way. As it was he swiftly pulled up the little’s boy’s shirt and promptly set him on the toilet before he turned his eyes to the ceiling to give the child a bit of privacy. 

Tony gave a giant sigh of relief, his toes curling his relief as he had made. His childish glee at not having an accident after such a close call was taking precedent over the embarrassment of his adult mind. He wasn’t even mad that the man was still in the bathroom with him, after all he had made haste when it came to his predicament. He finished up and carefully slid off the toilet, shaking his head by how far the toilet was from the floor.

“Thank you for helping me,” he stated happily as he flushed the toilet before reaching up to the man.

“You’re welcome buddy, let’s watch your hands and then we’ll head down and get some breakfast,” Steve told him cheerfully as he helped the child wash before settling him on his hip and headed to the kitchen.

“What’s for bweakfast?” Tony wanted to know.

“We made waffles and sausage and eggs, does that sound like something you might like to eat?” Steve asked, hoping it was.

“I like waffles,” Tony assured him happily. “Am I gonna get real cwothes today?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Steve promised him. 

Tony nodded happily, definitely looking forward to that.

"Matter fact they should be arriving just after breakfast is over, least that's what Pepper said," Steve added.

Tony perked up at that wondering if she was going to personally deliver the items or not. He got comfortable in his chair as he was set down.  
"Does she know?" Bruce asked quietly.

"No, I didn't feel comfortable telling her over the phone. I just asked if she could bring some items that a 3 year old would use and have," he explained.

"I'm four," Tony pouted once he realized they were talking about him.

"I know you are," Steve stated in a placating tone before he turned to Bruce's curious look. "He'll fit a size lower so that's why I told her that,"

"I figured," Bruce said as he sat down.

Tony turned to how plate pouting as he knew that they were still talking as if he wasn't here. He frowned as he looked at the food. "I'm only eating the waffles," he told them.

Steve frowned. "Why not the sausage and eggs?" He asked, stemming from his youth he never liked wasting food, and picky eaters wasn't something he was used to as he and Bucky ate anything, well as long as he wasn't allergic to it.

"I don't want the meat right now and eggs are yellow and unnatural even if that's their natural color," he explained with a grimace.

"That doesn't make any sense," Steve replied in confusion.

"That's Tony for you, even at this age," Bruce said with a shrug. "Tell Steve what that means," he prompted the little boy.

"Eggs are gwoss," Tony answered before he started ripping up his waffles so he could eat them. He was just reaching for the syrup when Clint and Natasha walked in. He ducked his head futily knowing they had already seen him.

Clint saw him but turned to Steve and Bruce instead, not wanting the little boy to feel uncomfortable like last night. "Maybe we should introduce ourselves to him, he's knows Steve but the rest of us are wild cards to him. Not to mention hes terrified of Nat and I," he added.

Bruce nodded, they really should have done this last night but everything was so hectic. "Tony, do you mind looking up for a momemt?" He asked.

Tony wrinkled his nose and gave a shrug. "I already know who you guys are,"

"You do? Can you tell us our names?" Steve asked him seriously.

Tony sighed, if one got over the almost condecending tone adults got when they spoke with kids, it was actually kind of nice being asked to do something instead lf being ordered.  
"You're Cap'n 'Merica or Stebe and dats Bwuce, or if he turns gween da Hulk!" He explained cheerfully before he turneds in the direction of the spies. "That's Cwint and da lady is N'tasha," he finished

"That's good, do you know their superhero names too?" Steve praised.

"Hawkeye and Bwack Widow," Tony whispered softly before his eyes flashed to Natasha''s and he gave off a shudder.

"What is making her so scary to you buddy?" Bruce askes kindly.

Tony gave a shrug, the last thing he wanted was for them to think he had all his memories back. then they would jump to the correct conclusion that He was in sound mind and they would treat him at a distance. he was still in the early stages of understanding this comfort...err scientific experiment thing. 

"Use your words Tony," Bruce gently prodded.

Tony sighed before he looked at his breakfast. "She's dangewous, like daddy,"

"So am I, and remember I said that we, unlike Howard weren't going to hurt you," Clint reminded him patiently. 

Tony blew out a breath and gave a nod. He would just have to trust that his teammate wouldn’t hurt him. "Okay,

"Alright," Clint replied softly in return hoping this would mean Tony would get over his fear of them. He loved children, and he wanted the little boy to know he only was going to protect him and not hurt him.

Tony nodded before he turned back to his waffles, he tried to use the fork they had given him but he found his child fingers couldn’t grasp it as well as his adult hands had. He did remember using child utensils as a kid, no matter. He didn’t even think about it when he set the fork down and started to eat with his hands, he was hungry.

Steve quirked an eyebrow as he too saw Tony start eating with his hands, he didn’t have a problem with it at least the kid was eating. Thankfully no one saw fit to say anything; the last thing they wanted was for Tony to clam up on them again. He glanced up when Thor came into the kitchen.

“Good morning Anthony!” The god stated happily as he made his way over to the small child.

“Mowning Thwor!” Tony replied in the same tone. It was hard not to match the god’s excitement and hey his body was a kid he didn’t have too.

“I just wanted to wish you a goodbye, I’m going to see my mother for a bit,” Thor told him as he took the seat next to him.

Tony frowned wondering why Thor was leaving; it took him a moment to realize that Frigga might be able to do something about the situation. He nodded absently, hoping that Thor would be successful in his trip. Though he was experimenting that didn’t mean that he wanted to say in this small form. He couldn’t be Iron Man if he didn’t age back.

“Will you come back?” Tony asked curiously.

“Aye, I will be back as soon as I can,” Thor promised before he stood up. “Until next time friends,” he stated as he ruffled Tony’s hair before he headed out the kitchen and to the landing pad on the roof.

Bruce sat down next to Tony and started eating his breakfast, knowing that Pepper not to mention Fury would be by. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but he did know he would be here for his friend because he knew Tony would do the same for him.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony had just finished his breakfast when he heard the elevator ping and he quickly jumped down from his chair knowing it was probably Pepper. He was very excited to see what she had brought him not to mention he totally wanted to see her reaction to his transformation. He just wanted to know if she would be as receptive as the Avengers had been or would she avoid him. He ignored the flash of hurt that flared up at the thought of his friend and CEO hating him at even this size so he shook the thought away. He wouldn’t know until he saw her so why worry himself now? He carefully pushed the chair in, turning to look up when he felt the eyes on him.

“Tony buddy, where are you going?” Clint asked curiously.

“I heard da elevator and I fink it might be Pepper,” he answered helpfully before cocking his head to the side as JARVIS spoke up.

“Young sir is correct, Miss Potts is here with the aforementioned things that Captain Rogers had asked for yesterday,” JARVIS replied smoothly.

“That means my clothes awe here too and I’m gonna go see her,” Tony added cheekily when no one had said anything. He grinned before he hurried out of the kitchen knowing that someone would follow him.

“Even at this age, he’s still the same Tony,” Steve said with a small smile as he and Bruce hurried after the child.

“Well the adult him had to start somewhere,” Clint muttered out as they left the kitchen.

Tony came to a stand in front of Pepper, watching for a moment as her eyebrows rose up in disbelief as she caught a look at him. “And who might you be?” She asked politely even though she was very much aware of who this child could be. And she knew that if he hadn’t been right in front of her she wouldn't have believed it otherwise.

"I'm Antony Stark, but you can call me Tony," he replied with a grin.

"Its Anthony," Bruce corrected gently with emphasis on the h as he came into the room.

Pepper looked at the men for a moment before she turned back to the little boy who was trying to look into the bags at her feet. "Would you like to get dressed?" She asked as she carefully carried the bags to the couch and sat down. She knew there would be time for questions later, when Tony was busy elsewhere. The last thing she wanted to do was him to become aware of something he hadn’t been aware of. For instance the deaths of his parents, she didn’t want this little boy to have to deal with that heartbreak all over again.

"Yes and maybe take a baff too. I didn't get one yestewday and Jawvis says I have to take one every other day if not every day," he replied softly.

Steve eyebrows rose as his eyes flicked to the ceiling for a moment before they made contact with Bruce. "I didn't know the A.I had that function," he stated slowly

"He doesn't, I believe Tony is referring to the human Jarvis, that’s who he named his A.I after," Bruce replied.

"Indeed," JARVIS replied before he silenced. He didn't want to cause his creator any unnecessary harm as he wasn't sure what the child remembered now. The last thing the needed was a hysterical child on their hands.

Tony was ignoring the chatter around him in favor of looking through the bag. He couldn't help the glee he felt when he saw what Pepper had gotten him. 

"Avenger stuff!" He cheered. Tony knew this was probably his only chance to wear Avenger merchandise without his teammates ribbing on him. He swallowed thickly as he pulled out an Iron Man outfit, before setting it aside quickly in favor of grabbing something else. He didn't want to be reminded of who he was when he was in this body. He knew if he chose to think about it, he might break down regarding the situation. And he didn’t ever want to do that in his teammate’s vicinity.

"What did you choose honey?" Pepper asked after a moment.

"Well I wanna wear dis one but it’s not wight. They don't got Bwack Widow or Hawkeye on here so it's not da whole Avengers like it says," Tony replied pouting as he held up the Avengers Playsuit that he wanted to wear.

Pepper hid a small smile at that, leave it to Tony to recognize the problem with the clothes. “That’s alright, I’ll make sure that they’ll fix it,” she promised him, wanting his smile to appear back on his face.

Tony nodded happily, as he grabbed the pack of Avengers underwear quickly hiding it under the playsuit before he turned to look back up at his teammates. “I’m gonna go take a baff,” he informed them as he turned and headed towards the elevator.

Steve frowned as they watched the toddler walk away. “Shouldn’t someone go with him?” He asked slowly, knowing that there was no way you were supposed to allow a four year old to bathe by themselves. He knew accidents could happen at any time.

Bruce was nodding having followed Steve’s train of thought and turned to look at Pepper. “I don’t mind going, I need to see what the last thing he remembers anyway,” he told her. He knew that Tony and her had broken up and he didn’t want to make things awkward for her or for Tony when he was back to his original age.

Steve nodded he was totally fine with that if he was being honest. And he simply turned back to Pepper to see what else that she had gotten for his tiny teammate.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony was slightly surprised to find Bruce stepping onto the elevator with him and he turned to look at the man in confusion for a moment before he pressed the button for Steve’s floor. Even now he still couldn’t get some alone time, he needed to speak with JARVIS.

“What awe you doing?” He asked the man after it became apparent that Bruce was fine with the silence.

“I’m coming to help you with your bath,” Bruce replied kindly.

“I know how to take a baff by myself,” Tony said with a pout hoping Bruce wasn’t actually going to sit inside the bathroom with him. He wasn’t embarrassed per say but they were science bros and they had boundaries.

“I’m sure you do, but just humor me buddy,” Bruce replied in the same complacent tone.

"But why do I hafta humor you? Why do you gotta be in wiff me? I'm a big boy," Tony told him firmly his lip jutting out stubbornly.

"I know you're a big boy, but that being said you're still four," Bruce replied quietly.

“You fink I’m gonna drown in the baff tub?” Tony answered skeptically. 

“That is not at all what I think,” Bruce said as he took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew Tony was naturally a curious child he just didn't want to deal with the questions right now.

Tony noticed that and fell silent he didn’t want Bruce to Hulk out, while he himself was in this tiny state. He wouldn’t be able to do anything not that he was afraid of the big guy, it was just he knew that Bruce would be horrified once he came back to himself. He stopped at Steve’s floor and walked to the man’s bathroom setting his clothes on the chair in there before he turned on the water.

“After my baff what awe we gonna do?” Tony asked curiously he wasn’t sure what they had in store for him.

“Well first the director of SHEILD will be by and he’ll want to talk to you and talk to us,” Bruce explained carefully. He honestly hoped that Fury had been able to get something from the wizard. He didn’t even want to contemplate if they were called out to assemble, where would that leave Tony?

Tony shrugged, not really wanting to see Fury. He was afraid of what the man might try to do; he was too vulnerable in this body. He just needed to trust that Steve and Bruce would be there for him.

Bruce could see the tiny child was thinking and he left him too it. He would rather the child was quiet for the moment instead of asking a bunch of questions he wasn’t totally sure of the answer too.

~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~

Back downstairs Steve was folding the clothes and setting them on the couch, unsure of how to approach this conversation with Pepper. He had nothing to lose so he figured he might as well just leap into it, and hope for the best.

“What can you tell me about Tony’s childhood? Some of the things he’s said aren’t sitting with me so well,” he started off slowly.

Pepper’s eyebrow rose as she looked at the super soldier. “That unfortunately isn’t my place to tell Captain,” she said apologetically before her eyes flicked upwards. “But Tony himself might be more receptive to tell you at this age,” she added slyly.

Steve was saved from replying with JARVIS spoke up. “Director Fury is requesting permission to come up to the floor,”

Steve sighed as he stood up, he was not looking forward to this. “Send him up Jay,” he murmured as he turned back to Pepper. He didn’t want to tell her to leave but what Fury and the team had to discuss well it wasn’t for her ears.

“I’ll go put away his things, and then I'll see you guys later," she told him easily as she stood up and after grabbing the aforementioned items she headed to the elevator. She headed straight to the Penthouse unaware that Tony was staying with Steve.

Steve’s eyes flicked over to Clint and Natasha who had appeared as Pepper left, giving the grim smile. “What do you think he’s going to say?”

“Considering he doesn’t even know that Tony has shrunken in size, I’d say nothing,” Clint replied pointedly.

“Hush Clint, you know we have to tell him,” Natasha said even as she had a frown on her face. She was quickly trying to think on what the director would suggest, already having a hunch that she wouldn’t like whatever it was.

“Should I be worried?” Steve butted in softly.

“Yeah you should,” Clint replied quietly as Fury appeared.

Steve watched the man’s eye flick from one side of the room to the other as if he was looking for someone. He didn’t have to guess who, he was pretty sure he knew. However he was not going to be fore coming in his answer.

“Where are Stark and Banner? We need them here for the debriefing,” Fury stated.

“You really don’t, you officially only need the three of us you see here. There was nothing technical or mechanical that requires Tony or Bruce. What happened out there was magical and so you might need Thor but he’s currently in Asgard so good luck there,” Steve replied calmly.

Fury frowned at the tone; this was why he had been against the soldier moving into the tower with Stark. He was bound to pick up some of his habits and to his dismay he had. No matter he would be getting to the bottom of whatever it was. There was definitely something going on here.

“Romanoff, in your earlier assessment you told me that Stark had been injured. What were his injuries and where is he?” Fury said turning his attention to the widow.

“There was slight problem, the wizard’s magic has reduced Stark down a size or so,” she replied delicately.

Fury arched an eyebrow turning to look at Clint.

“He shrunk, in body mass and in age,” Clint replied bluntly. “He’s about the age of a four year old at this moment and he does not remember us,”

Fury frowned but he didn’t say anything in reply to his agent’s word. He wasn’t totally worried at the moment, he was thinking on what this meant for him. With Stark out, SHIELD might actually have a chance to get the Iron Man suit; he just needed to figure out a way to do that.

“Where is Stark now?” He asked instead.

Steve made to answer but was interrupted yet again though this time by Tony as he came running into the room.

 

“Furry!” The little brown headed boy screamed excitedly as he ran into the room.

Nick Fury surprised everyone there when he caught the child in his arms. (Including the adult part of Tony’s mind that had been skeptical that Fury would catch him) “Hi Tony, are you being a good boy for the Avengers?” Nick asked in gentle tone.

“I am,” Tony replied happily as he hugged the man. He would never admit it but it was nice having someone who had been with him in the past, even if it was brief. “I’m being a vewy good boy,” he added just in case the man didn’t believe him.

“Well in that case, I have a surprise for you,” Nick replied as he pulled a small chocolate bar out of his jacket pocket. 

Tony gasped happily as he held it in his hands; this was a rare treat that his father didn’t like for him to have. “Why awe you here Furry?” The little boy asked curiously as he held his sweet securely in his hands.

“I just need to make sure that Avengers know what they are doing when it comes to taking care of you,” Nick replied smoothly.

“Oh,” Tony said with a frown, before he shrugged. His child mind was currently at the forefront and it figured that Fury wanted to make sure that they were safe. After all the little boy knew that Fury’s boss was Tony’s own father. 

“Yes, so why don’t you go and play while I talk with the Avengers okay?” Fury asked him.

Tony thought about that before sighing as he realized that the man wanted him out of the room to have this particular conversation. He hugged the man tight before he was set on his feet; He waved childishly to the man before he ran out of the room.

Tony pretended for a moment like he was heading another way to the elevator but he wasn’t. He set his prize chocolate on the floor before he laid down next to it so he could hear the conversation that was going on. He wasn’t sure what Fury was going to say but he felt that it was important. This could explain why he was now pushing the Adult part of his mind to the forefront so he could have a level head as he heard the conversation.

Back in the common room, Bruce was standing tensely by the wall, having exchanged a look with Steve once Tony had left the room. He could feel the tension, not to mention see Natasha and Clint, they didn’t look the at ease at all and he didn’t want to further think about that. He took a breath and directed his attention to the Director.

“Stark is now a liability, he has retained nothing of his adult mind and as such he is no longer an Avenger at this time,” Fury declared boldly.

“The hell he isn’t, Tony has given up everything for him to be an Avenger. Don’t you dare give me that bull crap about him not being a part of this team,” Steve hissed out angrily.

Fury gave him a look, clearly un-amused with the soldiers tone. He would get what needed to be done, and once Stark was out the way he would get the suit.

“What are you suggesting Director?” Natasha asked slowly, her own eyes narrowing of her own accord. She didn’t like that greedy gleam in his eyes and she was a bit wary on what he might be planning.

“I think that until we can find a cure for this nonsense, we need to put Stark in a foster home. That way you won’t feel like you are babysitting, this is not what the Avengers initiative does,” he finished calmly.

“Hell no, no disrespect director but there is no way in hell am I doing that to Tony. Speaking as a former foster kid, that is the worst decision you could ever come up with,” Clint broke out. “And I refuse to let you do this to him,” he bit out angrily.

 

“Don’t forget who you work for Barton,” Fury cautioned.  
“I still have my free will, and I can quit at any time. So don’t forget what my skills are and how valuable an asset I am director. And I won’t forget where I work,” Clint bit out in annoyance.

“I agree with Clint, not to mention this is Tony’s home and I will not let you kick him out of it,” Bruce said as he carefully took off his glasses. He wasn’t sure what the man was going to do, but at this point he would willingly let the Hulk out knowing how protective the green giant was of the ‘tin man’.

“Is that a threat Banner?” Fury asked in a dangerous tone, unable to believe what he was hearing.

“No that was a promise, wasn’t it JARVIS?” Steve replied in a smug tone as he remembered the AI had been unnaturally silent throughout all this.

“Indeed it was Captain, I think it would be best if you leave now Director Fury; and note that until Sir is back to his normal self you will not be allowed to enter the tower in any shape or form. I do not take kindly to my creator being threatened,” JARVIS replied dangerously.

Steve smirked, unable to help himself as he saw the man give a barely visible shudder before he turned without a word and headed to the elevator.

Bruce blew out a sigh of relief. “That could have gone better, but did he honestly think that we would allow him to do that to Tony?”

“I think he was expecting Natasha and Clint to back him up,” Steve replied slowly.

“Like I would, after everything Tony has done for me? Not to mention that Tony in the other room is a child and has already been through the worse kinds of imaginable things. I will not aid in whatever it is that Fury is trying to accomplish,” Clint said before frowning as he cocked his good ear to the side.

Natasha immediately turned to look at him. “What is it?” She asked softly, still on edge after Fury’s retreat.

“I think Tony might be crying,” Clint replied slowly before his eyes flickered up. “Jarvis, where is he?”

“I’m not completely sure, which leads me to believe he is in one of mine known blind spots so to speak,” JARVIS replied slowly.

“Why is he crying?” Natasha asked quietly.

“I believe he heard the part where Director Fury wanted to send him to a foster home,” the AI replied quietly.

“Shit,” Clint swore out as he mentally tried to think on what would be the best hiding spots for a child. The Tower had a shit ton of spots, he knew from personal experience.

“Does Tony know you have blind spots?” Steve asked trying to bring the conversation back to where his heart rate had gone up. He was carefully wondering if that was dangerous for the AI not to know when everything was going on.

“He does, they aren’t what you would consider traditional blind spots, and nothing that would compromise your safety,” JARVIS replied before he suddenly stopped talking.  
“Jarvis?” Steve asked in confusion.

Bruce sighed as he slumped down in his chair. “Tony must have muted him,” he deduced.

Steve turned to the other man in disbelief. “How in the world would he even know how to do that?”

Clint answered then. “Because it’s Tony, hello he was a child prodigy. Why are you surprise?” He said before frowning. “Don’t answer that we need to find him,”

Steve nodded quickly. “Split up, when you find him let us by getting him to unmute Jarvis and telling us,” he said before they all spread out in various directions.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tony couldn’t believe that after all that Fury was just going to dump him off in a foster home. Well the adult part of his mind could believe it, and actually he wasn’t surprised. He knew the man probably wanted to try and take control of his suits. Too bad in order to even get into his lab they needed the override code which only he knew, so his secret was safe. That didn’t matter to his child mind who was staring at the chocolate next to him with a look of betrayal. 

That part couldn’t understand why Fury would throw him to the wolves like that hadn’t the man liked him? He gulped out tearfully as both parts of his minds fought for control. The rational adult mind knew or at least hoped that Bruce wouldn’t allow SHEILD to just dump him off. He didn’t know where he stood in regards to his teammates. This is why, before he could even hear his teammate’s responses to Fury’s suggestion he had fled leaving the chocolate on the floor. He no longer wanted it.

He ran down the hall, not totally sure where he was going just that he needed to get away. Tony only had a moment of notice as he realized Jarvis was trying to give out his location, the traitor. Without thinking he muted his AI and ran over towards the wall. He could hear footsteps coming closer to where he was and quickly pulled the lid off the vent in the wall before he crawled inside. 

Making sure to place the grate back over the hole he quietly made his way through the vents. He sniffled sadly, the adult part of his mind pushed to the back as his child survival instincts kicked in. He never should have gotten comfortable, this was going to be just like at home with daddy, and he had trusted them too. When they found him he was going to be punished so severely as he had ran from them. He knew it was a matter of when and not if and that's what scared him. He had thought this place would be different! 

Tony crawled further in the vent unsure of where he was going but knowing the further he was away from where he had came in the better. He crawled for about ten minutes before he laid down inside the vent, unmoving for a moment. He was trying to see if he could hear anyone coming, but he couldn’t. It didn’t help that the only thing he could hear was the frantic beating of his heart and these small hiccups.Tony took a small shuddering breath before he buried his head into his arms and cried. He didn’t try to quiet his sobs as he was sure no one was cared at this point, and he had never felt so alone.

He didn’t know that it had been Clint whose footsteps he had heard and the archer had seen with his sharp eyes how uneven the grate over the vent was. It was with that suspicion that he crawled into the vent intent on finding his tiny team mate. Once Clint was inside the vent he just followed the sounds of the sobs, his own heart clenching at the hurt he could so obviously hear with every sniffle.

This was not the way to get the child to start trusting him and Natasha. Fury had really fucked up everything, what if his presence only made this worse? He sighed but he continued towards the crying. He was very much aware when Tony realized he was there as the little boy’s shoulder’s suddenly tensed.

“I’m not going to hurt you Tony, you know that. I promised you I would never do that to you,” Clint said sincerely.

“But Fury said that I hadta leave,” Tony replied tearfully.

“Yeah, well Fury is full of shit, and I say that you aren’t going anywhere,” Clint told him firmly. He knew that had Steve been here he would've been scolded for his language. But Clint was sure that with a father like Howard that Tony was used to foul words. That being said he didn't want to remind the child of the fact but at the moment it warranted the curse.

“You pwomise?” Tony asked sadly, not at all fazed by the man's words. He knew Fury longer and so he didn't really believe Clint over Fury.

“Oh yeah, there is no way in hell that Bruce let alone Steve will let Fury come and try to take you away. Now can you unmute Jarvis so I can let everyone know that I found you? We were really worried about you buddy,” Clint replied.

Tony sniffled before he reached out to the archer, he definitely wanted some comfort right about now and since they all seemed to want to give to him he would be stupid not to take it.  
“Jawvis, I’m sowwy. I unmute you,” Tony replied softly.

“Thank you young sir, are you feeling better now?” Jarvis asked his creator kindly.

“Yes, can you make sure dat Fury can’t come back in here and twy to get me?” Tony asked timidly.

“Of course young sir, I promise you the director is banned from the Tower until further notice,” Jarvis promised him.

“Are you ready to head back out to see the others? I know they all want to see you and we never got to see your new outfit,” Clint said with a smile.

Tony gave the archer a happy nod before he laid his head on his shoulder, trusting his teammate to get them out of the vents.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Clint carried Tony back to the common room and noted in amusement, as his teammates rushed to them. He felt Tony stiffen in his arms but he didn't say anything, the child needed to know that they wouldn't hurt him. He needed to get used to good touches and the easiest way to do that was this way.

"Tony, buddy why did you hide from us? Didn't you know that we'd never let anything happen to you?" Steve told him softly as he reached to grab the child.

Tony sniffled and went easily into the man's arms, pressing his wet face into the Captain’s neck. He should have remembered that Captain America would have protected him and he had worried them. He felt so awful. "I'm sowwy," he said as way of reply.

"No no no little, man that's not what he asked. You have nothing to be sorry for," Clint broke in gently as he rubbed the boy's back.

"Damn it Fury," Natasha muttered before she swore in Russian. She gently touched the little boy's head as she passed and headed to the door. "I'll be back," she said ominously as she saw the curious look on Bruce's face.

Bruce gave a fond nod, wishing he could be a fly on the wall where she was going. No doubt Fury was going to get a talking too, or worse. One could never tell with Natasha.

Trying to get Tony back into his happy mood Bruce came over to where Tony was as he remembered the earlier conversation. "Hey Tony, did you show Steve and Clint your Avengers playsuit?"

Tony sniffled once before the back of his hand swiped at his eyes. "It’s not a weal Avengers pwaysuit Bwuce, it only has you, Stebe and Thwor on it," he reminded the man with a pout.

"It has Iron Man too," Steve murmured out fondly, noting that Tony ignored him.

"What? No Hawkeye? Or Black Widow?" Clint said with pout. "We matter too!" He replied with an indignant tone.

Tony giggled at the tone of voice before he turned to face Clint. "Don't worry, I put on Hawkeye undewear and Bwack Widow socks," he assured him.

Clint howled with laughter at that, knowing once Tony was back to his normal age, this would be perfect teasing material. For now though he was just very much amused at the situation.

Tony wrinkled his nose at the laughter unsure what he was laughing at before he turned back to Steve. "Where did Pepper go?"

"She went upstairs to put your things away, and then I think she headed back to the office,” Steve told him as he kissed the top of his tiny teammates head.

"Oh," Tony replied, feeling comfortable enough not to want to move. After all it wasn't everyday that Captain America cuddled you.

"What are we doing today anyway?" Clint asked after a moment had gone by.

"Nothing really, I still need to get samples from Tony and then run a few tests down in my lab," Bruce replied thoughtfully.

"Shall we do that now then? We can get that out of the way first," Steve said softly knowing children hated the doctors, he would know.

"While we do that, you can figure out something that Tony might want to do today. Whatever it is, we are staying inside," Steve told Clint, knowing how the archer was once he got an idea into his head.  
"Aww you ruin my fun," Clint muttered but he figured he could just ask Jarvis if there was anything remotely fun to do in the Tower.

"Alright Steve, bring Tony," Bruce said as he turned and headed to the elevator.

"Wait, I missed it, where awe we going?" Tony asked blearily. He didn't want to admit that he had been dozing off on Steve's shoulder. He was only glad that he hadn't drooled on the other man as that would've been highly embarrassing.

"Bruce wants to show you something down in his lab," Steve replied slyly only half answering the question.

"Show me what?" Tony asked curiously.

"You'll see when you get down there," Steve answered he only hoped that Tony didn't pitch a fit.

"Then after we get done, can I haff a snack?" He asked hopefully, as he was getting hungry.

"Of course," Steve answered as he followed Bruce down to the lab. Once there he took a seat and carefully arranged Tony on his lap. This was done because of two things, one on the case that Tony was scared he would be there to help him and the second was he wasn't sure if the little boy would pull a runner or not. He noted that the child in question didn't look too suspicious, he just seemed content to lean against his chest.

Bruce washed his hands and grabbed his clipboard even though Jarvis was waiting and would be taking notes as well.

"Alright buddy, now I'm going to check your temperature, get some blood, ask a few questions, give you a quick exam and then you're gonna be done. If you act like the big boy you told me you were and the one I know you can be you'll get a treat as a reward and I will show you the workshop and we'll make a small robot together," Bruce told him calmly knowing exactly how to do this. He had been a doctor a long while and he knew children not to mention Tony.

Tony frowned as he turned to pout at Steve, he had been tricked! He wasn't mad though he was just worried as he knew Bruce said something about a shot and he wanted to prolong that bit as long as he could. He glanced around the lab anxiously, needing a plan. He ignored the bit in his mind that was stating he was being childish and that Bruce knew what he was doing. This was a legit fear in his child’s mind.

"So I'm gonna take your blood first get it out the way," Bruce decided knowing once it was finished with everything would go smoother. He knew children often worried over the shot which turned out to be less of a deal then they all thought.

Tony's eyes widened and shook his head fearfully. He didn't like that idea at all. He pushed back further into Steve's chest.

"Are you sure that’s a good idea Bruce?" Steve asked worriedly, his arms tightening around the toddler protectively.

"Well if I drag it out, it’s only gonna make it worse in the long run. He knows its coming as it is," he pointed out gently.

Steve sighed before he nodded and gave the little boy a gentle squeeze. "It’s alright Tony," he soothed, knowing that Bruce was correct in his assessment.

Tony wasn’t having it; he needed to get away from their shots and stuff. He wanted Clint! His head jerked suddenly at the amusement he felt stemming from his adult side, he had never thought he would ever think that. 

"I hafta go potty," he said a moment later. This had always worked with his mum and Nanny and sometimes his dad. It never worked with Jarvis the man always knew if he was telling the truth or not. 

Steve sat up a bit alarmed at that confession and looked at Bruce in concern. "Maybe hit the bathroom first then?" He asked quickly, after all he was the one holding the child and he didn’t wanted to get peed on from the child’s fright.

Bruce shook his head as he gave the little boy a knowing look. "He doesn't need to go it’s a tactic he uses to get out of something, most kids do it," he said in amusement. He outright grinned as he saw Tony giving him the stink eye. He quickly prepped the needle as Steve was currently trying to find out if Tony had been telling the truth or not. He was going to take advantage of this distraction.

Steve was looking at the little boy in his lip, with a slightly stern expression. "Were you lying juts now Tony?" he asked lightly.

Tony was very much lying, and he hated that Bruce hadn't even fell for it. He didn't want Captain America to think he was a little liar and he gave a small shrug in return.  
"I wasn't lying, but I can wait until aftew," Tony grumbled out instead.

"Okay, Bruce said it wouldn't take so long," Steve said slowly, knowing an avoidance tactic when he saw one. "And remember it’s not nice to lie especially about something like that. What do you think would happen if one day you really had to go but no one believed you?" he asked.

Tony flushed in embarrassment aware of where Steve was going with this and what his answer would be. "I would haff an askident," he finally mumbled out, before turning and burying his face into Steve's shirt. He decided he wasn't coming back out again. He flushed further in mortification as the adult part of his mind fully emerged. He had gotten scolded like a little child and it wasn't sitting right with him.

"Exactly," Steve replied watching the moment when Bruce stuck the needle into his tiny teammate’s arm. He breathed a sigh of when Tony didn't react. If anything the little boy was trying to dig his way clear through his shirt. The super soldier turned to look at Bruce in confusion at the way Tony was now acting.

"You scolded him and now he's embarrassed at the fact. More so that it’s Captain America that did it then anything else," Bruce explained as he finished up. That had gone better than he expected and reached out for the little boy.

As Tony wasn't looking at him Steve gently prodded the toddler. "Tony, Bruce wants you,"

Tony sighed, immediately reaching out towards his science bro. He just wanted to get away from Steve. "You said we could see the workshop as my tweat," he reminded the man softly as he pressed his face into the man’s shirt.

"Tony I guess I'll see you later yeah?" Steve said quietly, feeling a bit unhappy that the little boy wouldn't even look at him anymore.

Bruce sighed as he rubbed the silent little boy's back. "He'll be back to his normal self in a bit you'll see," he reassured Steve as he headed out of his lab.

Steve could only sigh and followed them out, hoping he hadn't messed anything up with Tony.

~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~

Tony spent the rest of the morning in his workshop with Bruce getting reacquainted with his bots. He longed to work on one of his current projects but he knew unless he could sneak away from his minders; that wasn’t happening. As he had had a couple hours to stew over what happened earlier he knew that had been his entire fault and Steve had every right to scold him.

At the moment he was hungry and thirsty and he just wanted Steve to hold him again. There was something to be said about feeling safe in someone’s arms and he longed to experience it again. His stomach growled softly before making his way over to Bruce who had dozed off on the sofa when he realized that Tony was perfectly content to tinker with the general makings of a robot alone. He tapped the man's knee gently not wanting to freak him out.

"Bwuce I'm hungwy," Tony informed the man seriously.

The man in question; cracked open an eye to look at his charge curiously. "You all done?"

"No but I'm hungwy," he repeated as he looked at the man expectantly.

"That's understandable it is a bit after lunch time," he said as he looked at his watch. "I'm sure Steve or Clint has something made already that they won't mind you having some," he promised as he grabbed the little boy’s hand and led him to the elevator.

Tony was happy to be led, and eagerly made his way off the elevator and towards the kitchen once they made it to the floor. He could smell something yummy and he hurried to get a look. He was surprised to see Clint by the stove; he would have figured Steve was the one making the food. He suddenly got a horrible thought in his head. What if the man was still mad at him for earlier? He hoped not, he liked Steve. His stomach growled and he was sidetracked by his hunger yet again.

"Hi Cwint, what did you make?" He asked curiously, hoping it was something yummy.

"Hey little man, I wonder what happened to you," he said teasingly. "I made some homemade Mac and cheese," he replied knowing every picky eater everywhere loved this simple dish or a variant of it.

"Yummy," Tony said softly his eyes wide in his happiness.

"Kay, go wash your hands and get Steve from his room and by the time you come back it'll be ready," Clint said knowing how impatient children tended to be.

"Kay don't eat wiffout me," Tony informed the man.

"We won't," Bruce assured him.

Tony grinned before he skipped off to the elevator.

"Is it really going to be done by the time he comes back?" Bruce asked skeptically.

"Yeah, just grab some bowls and some cups," Clint said sure of himself as he stirred the pot.

Bruce did what he was told and got the table set up for them.

~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~

Meanwhile Tony was looking through the good Captain's quarters unsure if he was even here. Maybe Clint had been mistaken? He checked the room he had stayed in before going to the other bedroom before frowning. Where was Steve? He face palmed as he remembered something.

"Jawvis? Where is Stebe?" He asked after a moment.

"The Captain is currently in the bathroom," Jarvis replied promptly.

Tony jolted slightly at that as he realized it had been a while since he had used the bathroom himself. In all his excitement down in the lab he had ignored his body and was starting to regret it. He bent over quickly as he went to grab himself between the legs before he disgraced himself. 

He swallowed thickly as he hobbled his way to the bathroom; Steve was going to have to get out, at that very moment. He couldn't have an accident, he would die of mortification. Not to mention, if he had an accident what would that do to him emotionally. His adult side was trying to rationalize the situation but the child bit was freaking out, it knew its body’s limit and they were approaching it.

"Jawvis, c'n you tell Stebe to come out of the baffroom, he might not believe me," Tony asked the AI anxiously. He had remembered their earlier discussion; it was a bit of instant irony at the moment.

Thankfully Jarvis didn't need to speak as Steve opened the door a moment later, looking in surprise as he saw Tony standing out the door.

"Hey kiddo, you need any help?" Steve asked, as he turned to the side to allow the child to come inside the bathroom. It was obvious yet again what the problem was, and he had to wonder if he had ever been like this when he was a kid; the holding it until the last minute bit.

Tony nodded urgently as he straightened up as best as he could before quickly hurrying over to the toilet. He hurriedly unzipped his playsuit, not even caring that Steve was still here. He looked around frantically, wondering why they hadn't yet got him a damn stepstool yet. "Stebe, hewp," he whined out.

Steve simply lifted him up onto the toilet like he had that morning before he was gazing at the ceiling. "Tony, buddy you need to stop waiting until the last minute," he chided gently.

Tony's face flushed, his toes unconsciously curling in his relief. He didn’t want to get scolded again by Steve, least of all while he was stuck on the pot unable to move.

“I’m sowwy,” Tony replied quietly, that had usually worked with his father on the man’s good days anyway.

Steve sighed as he looked at the child’s head and shook his own. He didn’t want the boy to constantly apologize for something that needed no apology in the first place. He frowned turning his gaze once more as the child finished and pulled his outfit back on again.

“Do you need help washing your hands?” He asked quietly.

“I can do it,” Tony mumbled out as he closed the lid on the toilet seat before he climbed on it and then climbed onto the counter. “Can you ask Pepper if I can haff a step stool?”

“Yeah, I will,” Steve replied quickly. “What where you doing up here? I thought you were in the lab with Bruce?”

“It’s time to eat wunch and Cwint said to come get you,” Tony informed him as he finished washing his hands before he carefully climbed down off the sink.

“Oh, it’s that time? What are we having?” Steve wanted to know.

“Mac and cheese,” Tony said with a bright grin before he rubbed his hungry tummy again.

Steve grinned, knowing at least that Tony would eat this meal. He picked up the child and hugged him tightly. “I missed you today buddy,” he told him as he carried him out the bathroom and out towards the elevator.

Tony sighed softly before he gave a nod. “Me too I’m sorry I was lied and then was mean,” he told him timidly.

“That’s alright buddy, just I hope you learned your lesson is all,” the super soldier told him.

“I did,” Tony nodded seriously.

“Good,” Steve replied happily before he tickled the child in his arms, his giggling following them as they headed into the kitchen to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted Steve to find out about Howard's parenting this chapter but it got to long. Hopefully next chapter. I've still got a bit more planned for them so it's gonna be fun. Thanks for coming along for the ride with us.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Call to assemble has finally come, now what does this mean for Tony?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this, I made a promise to myself I won't post a chapter unless it's 7,000 words or more. This is so I have few chapters then instead of multiple 3000 word chapters. So enjoy.

Tony pulled free from Steve as they entered the kitchen, allowing the little boy to scramble up the tall chair so he could sit at the table. He noted in amusement that how both Bruce and Clint moved ever so slightly that if he were to stumble they would catch him. Had they always had that protective streak in them? He supposed that the Hulk taking a likening to him as well as saving him from death could have also been seen as protective. But he wasn’t used to that and simply shook the thought from his head as he turned to focus on his food. 

The little boy glanced around as the other males took a seat, reminding him that Natasha was still gone. He was content at that fact but slightly alarmed that he didn’t know where she was. What if she was plotting with Fury to do something to him? Would she even contemplate something like that? Could she do that? He didn’t know the answer to that and swallowed audibly at the fear that appeared, before quickly plastering a smile on his face when he saw Clint looking at him in concern.

“Eat up Tony,” Clint told him carefully aware that his tiny teammate was clearly thinking of something that he didn’t like. Especially if the frown on the child’s face was anything to go by and as he was trained to notice these sorts of things he knew whatever it was he didn’t want the boy to dwell on it.

Tony obediently started eating drowning out the conversation above him as he looked around his tower. He never noticed as he wasn’t usually up here for long, but it looked very much lived in. He liked that his teammates saw this place at home; it warmed him up on the inside. The fact that he provided it to them made him slightly proud to be a part of it.

Steve turned from where he was talking to Bruce to make sure that Tony was okay, the child was so small and the super soldier was worried that something might happen to him. He gave the child a fond smile as the boy’s face was nearly in his bowl before he turned back to Clint.

Clint’s eyes were flicking from Tony and back to the Captain frowning every so often as he realized something. “What are we supposed to do if we get a call?” He asked quietly. 

Bruce froze at that, his own eyes drifting to their tiny teammate who he saw didn’t seem to be paying them any attention, but even as an adult he couldn’t really tell. Knowing how Tony was, he could wager a guess that the child was listening on an unconscious level. He gave a slight shake of head hoping Clint would know that now wasn’t the time.

“Wait until he’s through eating,” Steve murmured audibly when Clint looked like he wanted to say something else.

Tony was very much aware of what was going on and he was definitely curious about the answer. He knew that they would be called to assemble and where in the world would that leave him? Would they think that Fury was right and get rid of him? He shook the thought away; this was his tower he would hide before he let that happen! 

He nodded to himself as he finished up his lunch, figuring that he could go explore a bit and find some better hiding spots. He knew that the vents weren’t the idlest spots because Clint practically lived in the vents. The little boy grinned happily to himself before he scooted his empty bowl to the middle of the table.

“I’m done,” he announced as he slowly climbed down from the tall chair.

“You are; did you want anything else to eat?” Steve asked him curiously.

“No I’m full, I’m gonna go ‘splore kay?” Tony told him cheerfully.

“Alright buddy, if you need anything tell Jarvis and he’ll let us know,” Bruce told him easily.

Tony nodded that he understood before the little boy headed out of the kitchen and towards the elevator. Now was definitely the idle time to go down to his workshop and have a private chat with his A.I.

He skipped happily to the elevator waiting impatiently for it to come up before he stepped inside. He giggled happily to himself as he placed his hand on the screen so he could gain access to the lower floor only to jump back in fright as Natasha suddenly came into view. He quickly pushed a few other buttons on the elevator, so it would seem as he was being the kid he was and wanted to play. He gulped fearfully as he moved to a corner of the lift, his hand playing with the small arc reactor under his shirt.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of Tony, I won’t hurt you,” Natasha reminded him quietly.

“I don’t know dat, you could be lying. Gwown ups do dat all the time,” Tony whispered out.

“Some of us do, but I have no reason to lie to you honey. Where were you going?” She asked carefully. She knew he was up to something she just didn’t know what.

“I wanted to go back to da wab, Bwuce and I was building a wobot,” Tony replied half-truthfully.

“You’re only allowed in the lab with Bruce or one of the adults, Tony. There are some dangerous things down there and we don’t want you to get hurt,” Natasha cautioned him. She wasn’t sure what to feel at this moment. She didn’t know how to truly relate to the child she only wanted him to trust that she wasn’t the enemy.

Tony sighed softly before he gave a reluctant nod, knowing that she wasn’t going to get out the elevator until he did. And then she might issue a warning to Jarvis, and crap he was just screwed all around wasn’t he?

“Stebe said dat I could ‘plore the tower,” Tony told her softly. He wondered if the widow was going to revoke that privilege too.

“You can, do you know where they are?” Natasha asked him gently.

“Having lunch on the common floor, dey were tawking about a call or somefing. They wouldn’t let me listen,” he pouted his bottom lip sticking out adorably.

“I bet you it’s really boring and they wanted you to have fun instead,” she said slyly.

“Maybe,” the little boy allowed, before he grinned as the door opened on Steve’s floor. He breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out the elevator turning towards the woman. “Bye N’tasha,” he chirped before he jogged back into Steve’s room.

Natasha grinned as the elevator closed, only getting off once it was back on the common floor. She could hear them quietly talking and she followed the sound, coming into the kitchen.

“Tony said something about a call? Have we been called to assemble?” She asked skeptically.

“No thankfully we haven’t, we were just discussing that. What if it does happen, where will Tony be?” Steve asked quietly.

“He’ll be safe in the Tower, which will be on lockdown allowing no one in or out of the living levels until one of us comes back and lets Jarvis know that it’s safe. It’s the most reasonable thing,” Natasha said slowly.

“Because Thor is gone and Tony is unable to fight we are already down two teammates, we can’t afford to lose more,” Clint said in frustration. He didn’t like these odds, way too many things to go wrong.

“If Fury wasn’t being a dick, he could have watched Tony,” Bruce pointed out as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Natasha gave a smirk in return to that, she doubted at this point Fury would come even 5 feet of the little boy. He wouldn’t be trying to snatched up the child or one of the Iron man suits, none of them not mention Jarvis would allow it.

“It’ll be fine, the Tower is secure enough and we won’t be gone for long. Besides we don’t even know if we’ll get a call or not,” Steve said trying to be optimistic.

“Oh we will get one, just a matter of when,” Clint said with a sigh. He was ever the realist and he knew eventually it would come and he only hoped they would be ready for it.

“Where do you think Tony went to explore?” Bruce asked curiously.

“I caught him on the elevator, he was trying to head to the lab. He said he wanted to finish building his robot or something with Bruce,” Natasha said with a questioning brow. 

“Oh yeah, good on you for catching him,” the scientist replied with a sigh. The last thing they needed was the little boy getting hurt.

“Where is he now?” Clint asked.

“I left him in Steve’s floor,” the redhead responded before she got up to fix herself some lunch.

“I’ll go check on him then, who knows what that kid will get into too if we leave him alone too long,” Steve said fondly as he stood up from the table before he headed out the kitchen and towards the elevator.

~&~&Breaking of the Line~&~&~&

Up on Steve’s floor, Tony was leaving nothing unturned. He wasn’t making a mess but he was going through everything that he could. From as long as he could remember he had been obsessed with all things Captain America and the Howling Commandos. And to have the living legend here in his Tower and for him to be able to check out the personal memorabilia was amazing. Now that he was a child he gave into the urge, the bitterness with the child side wasn’t there and he relished in that feeling. 

The little boy checked in all the drawers and underneath the beds before he came to an office. He grinned as he walked inside and looked around trying to take everything in. He giggled happily to himself as he made his way over the bookshelf, he grabbed the old radio and set it on the floor next to him. It looked like it didn’t play, and he wanted to see if he could fix it, after all radios were easy enough for him. He would just need to get his little tools, and he wasn’t worried about that. 

Tony’s eyes widened as he saw a picture frame on the shelf above where he grabbed the radio. He wasn’t sure who was in it, but it was obviously important if it was on this shelf. He grinned as he glanced around, he knew that at any point in time one of the team could make their way up here to ‘check’ up on him. Which he didn’t totally mind, but it was kind of annoying. At the moment it just added some much needed thrill to what he was currently doing.

Tony stepped back for a moment before he grabbed the chair in front of the small desk in the corner before he dragged it over to the shelf. It was a slow going process as Tony’s tiny body wasn’t built for moving heavy things. Eventually he got the chair where he wanted it and scrambled up onto it, smirking to himself as he carefully grabbed the picture frame. He held it carefully in his hands as he focused his eyes on the photo inside. 

The picture itself was black and white, reminding Tony that the Captain was out of his time. He smiled sadly as he looked at the picture of the two boys. He knew without a doubt one was Steve and the other was Bucky. He felt a small stirring in his stomach the longer he stared at the frame, scoffing silently to himself as he realized something. 

He was jealous of the friendship and the closeness Steve clearly had with Bucky in this picture. He had never had anyone like that, not unless you counted Jarvis. Tony suddenly found himself blinking rapidly and hard as his eyes watered which led to him frowning. He wasn’t about to start crying over a stupid picture! He glared at the smiling boys in it, before he moved to set it back on the shelf only to freeze as he heard someone come into the office. He had a moment of mild panic only to relax ever so slightly as he saw that it was Steve.

Steve for his part had bitten his jaw the minute he had seen what was in Tony’s hands. He didn’t really like it when people touched his things without asking. Not to mention that Photo was the only one he was able to recover. He knew from Fury that Howard Stark had collected all of his personal things but Steve had never gotten the courage to ask Tony if the man knew where any of it was. As it was, he frowned heavily as he leveled a stern look at the child on the chair.

“What are you doing in here Tony?” Steve asked calmly, he knew he needed to get his frustration in check. After all he supposed he could be the one at fault here, he hadn’t given the child any rules about what he could touch and what he couldn’t.

Tony swallowed thickly as he caught the look on the man’s face before he averted his own eyes elsewhere. “Just ‘ploring,” he replied truthfully. He didn’t want to get in trouble with Captain America again, he had felt so awful before.

“Oh, I wasn’t aware that exploring meant you went through other people’s things and touched them without their permission,” he stated casually.

Tony opened his mouth to respond only to shut it as the blonde’s words penetrated his brain for the moment. He frowned as he looked at his shoes, he had figured it was okay. Steve had never said he couldn’t, where in the world was the man attempting to do? He shrugged slowly before he quickly set the picture frame back on the shelf before jumping down from the chair. 

He was only able to move about a foot, when he heard the sound of glass breaking behind him. Tony turned around with a gasp as he saw the frame on the ground and now broken. It thankfully didn’t look like the picture inside was damaged and he was thankful for small mercies. 

Steve’s eyes flicked over to where he heard the glass break and winced before he turned his glare at the top of the brown haired boy’s head. He was frustrated that Tony had gotten into his things and broke something that was priceless in his eyes. He could never get that moment or Bucky for that matter back and Stark had just messed it all up.  
He growled softly to himself before he went over to the shelf, moving the child up and away from the glass. He was a bit angry with the child but he didn’t want him hurt. He quickly picked up what was left of the frame, hoping that the fragile photo inside was okay.

“This is what I was talking about Tony,” Steve told him not unkindly but his voice was a bit rougher than usual due to the emotion that he was currently dealing with.

Tony couldn’t help it, even if the adult part of his mind knew that Steve Rogers would never hurt a child, he couldn’t help his unconscious reaction to the man’s tone. When Steve had addressed him, he found himself flinching back hard before his hands came up to cover his head to protect himself.

Because his eyes were closed tight he didn’t see the horrified look on the Captain’s face. He was too busy fighting the childish side of his mind for the moment. The last time he had let it free, he had fled and ended up hiding in the vents. He knew that if he tried to run that Steve would catch him in an instant. But like all things he was starting to see in his life, they couldn’t all be controlled. And it was a half of a second later when the four-year-old side of him won out and carefully peeked out from where his hands were shielding his face.

“Sowwy, sowwy sowwy,” the little boy said frantically. He wanted the man to know he hadn’t meant to it and hopefully that would let him escape punishment. As it was Captain America had set him onto of the desk in the corner so he wouldn’t step in the glass. That meant something right? His daddy had never done that. 

Steve was still standing in the same spot where he had been, unable to move as he watched his teammate flinched away from him. He honestly couldn’t comprehend in that moment, why in the world did Tony think that he was going to hurt him? He swallowed thickly, his hands up so the child could see when he eventually looked up that he meant him no harm whatsoever. 

“Tony, little man I am not nor will I ever hurt you. I know you didn’t mean to break the frame,” Steve started out gently. It didn’t seem like Tony was going to look at him so he needed to get the child to see that everything was okay. He wasn’t even angry like he had been before, after all the boy hadn’t known the rules.

Tony himself was floored even as he chanced a peek up at the super soldier in amazement. He wasn’t totally sure if he believed the man but he hadn’t lied to him as of yet, and besides it was a good chance that Captain America was nothing like his daddy was even if they had been friends.

“Do you pwomise?” The little boy couldn’t help adding. He knew after all that promises weren’t meant to be broken and if the good Captain promised then his word was worth its weight in gold at least in Tony’s eyes.

“I promise,” Steve told him firmly before he moved a bit away from the glass and took a seat on the floor before opening his hands at to the child. “Come here buddy,” he requested.

The little boy nodded silently before he slowly made his way over to the man. He knew that Steve wouldn’t hurt him however that did nothing to stop the fear. He still tensed when he was in the man’s arms. Though he eventually relaxed once he realized that Steve was only interested in giving him comfort.

“I’m so sowwy, I didn’t mean to bweak it,” Tony wanted him to know.

“I know you didn’t and it’s alright the picture inside wasn’t even damaged,” Steve reassured him.

“Oh that’s good,” Tony mumbled out and he did mean it. 

The tiny tot knew how much Bucky meant to Steve, just a part of him wished that he could mean the same. He shrugged softly, feeling childish but that part was in the forefront of his mind and he had no chance right now of regaining the adult part. He was way too emotional at the moment, and soon the small moment of clarity vanished as the little boy turned to look up into the bright blue eyes curiously.

Steve didn’t want to take advantage of the situation but they were definitely long overdue for a talk. And if he took Pepper’s recommendation into order this was probably the perfect time to breach what he was sure to be an awful conversation. He knew his perceptions about the man had already been broken, but the feeling he was starting to get was about to leave everything bare. He only hoped Tony forgave him for this when he was once more re-aged. 

“Alright Tony I need to ask you something very important and I want you to be honest with me okay?” He asked the child casually.

“Otay, I will,” Tony promised quickly just wanting to please the man after what had just occurred.

“Why did you think that I was going to hurt you?” Steve asked softly.

Tony was silent for a moment; this was what the man wanted to ask? He for sure thought that it was going to be way worse. He wasn’t totally sure why Steve wanted to know this but he had promised not to lie. 

“Well it’s ‘cause peowple get angwy at you when you bweak dere stuff. And I bwoke a pictuwe dat I knew you weally loved,” Tony replied honestly.

“What do you mean people get angry? Does your daddy ever get angry with you? Is that why you’re afraid of Natasha and Clint? What does your daddy do?” Steve asked softly, aware he had probably bombarded the child but he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Tony curled into himself at the last question, he didn’t know why Steve wanted to know that. Maybe if he told the man everything he would protect him from when his daddy caught wind of this. Though a part of him thought that might be a stupid plan as Captain America was clearly friends with his father and not him. 

It could go either way, and the latter meant Tony could end up hurt. Did he want to risk it? He wanted someone to come and protect him and that meant telling someone, so he took a breath and gave a quiet nod.

“Daddy huwts me,” he confessed softly, feeling a second later a weight lifted off of his chest even as strong arms tightened around him. He knew in that moment that Steve would protect him from everything which helped to loosen up his tongue to tell the older man what he wanted to know.

~*~*Line Break~*~*~~*~*

Meanwhile down in the common kitchen Natasha was explaining to Bruce and Clint some of what happened in her talk with Fury. She knows even as she’s explaining that a Call to Assemble is imminent and she is powerless to stop it.

“Don’t worry about it, we can’t prevent it and worrying about it will make it worse then what it’ll probably be,” Clint murmured when she stopped talking. It wasn’t surprising that he knew where her train of thought currently had been.

“Not to mention if it does get bad, Thor will come and we can always call on the Fantastic Four. We help them out sometimes and it’s about time they returned the favor,” Bruce replied calmly. He had faith in his team and their abilities they would all be okay.

~&~&~A few days later~*~*~*~*~

A couple days after that awful moment when Tony broke the picture frame, things were starting to look up for him. His experiment regarding his small body was blowing his mind every day. He never realized how much Steve or Clint loved to cuddle. They constantly held him in their arms even when he didn’t want too. He didn’t complain as he knew it was only a matter of time before the spell would be undone and it was back to normal. 

They would never willingly touch him like they did now. He wasn’t part of the team; he knew he was still an outsider looking in. They had all made that very clear to him, and he wouldn’t be forgetting it any time soon. At the moment Tony was currently laying on Bruce’s stomach while they watched Osmosis Jones. He was slightly embarrassed to note that both of his minds were very entertained by the childish film. He was also very much aware of how much this toddler version of him got away with things. Bruce had made it very clear the first day that he didn’t trust himself around them. And here Tony was lying on the man comfortably and the man didn’t seem to mind. Tony actually liked the Hulk, he wished Bruce did too. 

The toddler wasn’t sure where Steve was, though he was probably training with Clint, he wasn’t worried. As he leaned forwards to grab his cup of milk, that is when the trouble started. A loud alarm suddenly went off, and Tony couldn’t help his instinctive reaction and screamed loudly in return even as he covered his ears with his hands. He looked up at Bruce in concern but the man had only pinched the bridge of his nose in response.

“You’re alright Tony, it’s nothing,” Bruce stated loudly as he stood up. The moment of truth had come and he honestly was not ready for it. Could they really leave Tony here and expect everything to be okay? Maybe they should have had Thor bring Jane here, she would’ve been a great choice not to mention a trustworthy babysitter for Tony. There was nothing he could do for it now, they had no choice but to stick with the plan.

“What’s going on? Why is it so woud?” Tony yelled out in return.

“We been called to go out and protect the city!” Bruce yelled, only to frown as Jarvis suddenly cut the alarm and he turned to look at the little boy in his arms.  
Tony was frowning, his adult part of his mind instantly on alert. He didn’t think they would allow him to fly the Iron Man suit, not mention it didn’t even fit him anymore, how would he even see?

“What does dat mean fow me?” Tony asked timidly. He didn’t know their plans regarding him, they had never talked about it when he was within distance.

“You are going to stay here in the Tower and continue watching movies,” Bruce replied, as he glanced at the doorway unsure of where everyone was. They usually met up in the common areas but he would go to them and see what was going on.

Tony’s heart skipped a few times at that thought, they wanted him to stay here alone? Did he hear Bruce correctly? “I’m ‘posed to stay hewe by mysewf?” He asked quietly, he felt very afraid all of a sudden. The tower was a big place and without the rest of the Avengers it would be even bigger and he would feel so alone like he used to be. He didn’t want to ever feel that again, he didn’t want them to go without him.

Bruce frowned, as he caught the soft tone. “It’s just for the battle Tony, we aren’t leaving you alone because we want too,” he made sure to add as he carried the child and hurried towards the loading deck. It turned out to be a good decision as he could see the Quinjet hovering nearby and Steve and Natasha and Clint were all there as if they were waiting for him.

“Finally, what took you so long man?” Clint said not even turning around to look at the other man, he could hear him just fine.

“I was waiting for you guys, I wanted to know what was going on downtown. Do you need me to come with you?” Bruce asked casually, as he could feel how tightly Tony was clutching to his shirt and he honest to god didn’t want to leave the child like this. He knew the child was afraid, he swore he could smell the fear which meant the Hulk was much too close to the surface for his likening.

“Yes we need you, we’re not exactly sure what’s going on. Fury wasn’t very welcoming with his information so at the moment we are going in blind,” Steve said seriously before he registered that Tony was in his friend’s arms but it was Natasha who beat him to it.

“Go place Tony inside and Jarvis will lock the place down,” she said quietly.

“Noooo! Pwease, I’ll be good. Just wet me stay pwease,” Tony pleaded tearfully before the man could comply with his words.

“We can’t bring you buddy, it’s too dangerous and you could get hurt,” Steve told the child softly.

“No I won’t you won’t even know I’m dere. I’m good at being a good hider, I pwomise,” Tony replied firmly.

“You may promise all you like amoureux, but my mind won’t change. You cannot come with us,” Natasha said determinedly. She wasn’t going to jeopardize this mission by allowing Tony to accompany them, they would be worried for him which meant they wouldn’t be doing their best.

Tony swallowed thickly at Natasha’s tone before he gave a small shrug as if it didn’t truly bother him. Who was he kidding anyway he knew what kind of person Natasha was before all of this started. Just because she tolerated him more now meant nothing in the long run. He was still Tony Stark and she hated everything about him, he blinked back the sudden emotion. He hadn’t really given into his kid emotions and he wouldn’t start now, he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing how much she hurt him.

He wiggled until Bruce finally put him down, making sure not to look at any of them. He didn’t want any of their pity, they may not know he had his adult mind but that meant nothing at the moment. He didn’t actually care about the mission at the moment it was the principle of the thing, she could care less about him. He didn’t care what she called him as term of endearment he didn’t believe it. 

If he was correct Bruce would need to run back to get his Hulk pants and they would all want to make sure he was in whatever room they locked him in. It was a small window of opportunity but he could do it if he really wanted too. And he did, he wanted to prove to her, that she wasn’t the boss of him.

“Be safe Bwuce, Stebe and Cwint,” Tony told them quietly before he shook his head and turned to head back into the tower.

“Hey little man, you forgot to wish that to Natasha,” Clint said teasingly trying to break the tension he so obviously felt.

“No I didn’t, da Bwack Widow will be fine wiffout my good wuck. She’s da boss wight?” Tony said sarcastically before he ran back into the tower.

Bruce sighed before shaking his head. “Well I was wondering when that attitude of his would kick in,” he stated dryly before he hurried into the tower to change.

Steve sighed his eyes flickering to where Tony disappeared. “I’m just going to make sure he’s alright,” he said as he followed the direction of where his tiny teammate had gone.

Natasha sighed but she and Clint followed after the Captain. She knew she had hurt the small boy but it was necessary, he couldn’t come that was the way it was going to be. There was nothing to do for it, she could just imagine if Tony got kidnapped. No that was a worst case scenario and as he wasn’t leaving the tower it didn’t have a chance in happening. She caught up to Steve and quirked an eyebrow in confusion as he was just standing in front of the elevator with a bemused expression on his face.

“What’s going on? I thought we were checking on Tony,” Clint stated slowly.

“He locked us out of the elevator, Jarvis has just informed me,” Steve said with a frown. He didn’t want to leave on this note but Tony was safe so there was that. He shook the thought out of his head, now was the time to focus.

“We’ll talk to him about that when we come back, for now we need to go,” Natasha said as Bruce came back and they hurried back to the landing pad, boarding the Quinjet a moment later.

“Right,” Clint replied easily as he settled down in his seat and buckled up.

~&~&~&Page Break~&~&~&~&~&

Tony settled into the small hanger in the back that had a bunch of equipment blocking his hiding spot from everyone else. He made himself breath slowly, he had barely just made it and after silencing Jarvis he wasn’t in danger of being snitched on. He grinned to himself happily, take that Natasha! 

He couldn’t help the childish thought but he had definitely outsmarted the infamous Black Widow and this way he could see what kinds of things they were keeping from him. It was definitely a win-win situation in his book. He curled up a bit more to get comfortable and found himself falling asleep thanks to the quiet lull of the engine.

~&~&~Break~&~&~&~&

“Jarvis could you let us know what Tony is doing?” Steve asked unable to help it. 

He was worried he hadn’t even been able to talk to him before they had left. He wasn’t going to think of the child during the battle he just needed to make sure he was alright and not crying his eyes out like he thought. Steve frowned when he received no response and no video showing the live feed, his eyes widening at the implications and just barely able to stop himself from swearing.

“He’s angry with us, of course he muted Jarvis,” Clint said dryly. “No doubt he hates Natasha, he wouldn’t even say bye to her,”

“Yes I’m aware Clint I was there, he’s just upset. He’s four, he’ll be over it soon enough,” Natasha replied what a shrug.

“Tony Stark can hold a grudge forever, so I hope you’re in for the long run,” he teased.

“I repeat he is four,” she said tightly. She wasn’t worried she had done the right thing; it was too dangerous for him now.

“I’m sure he’s fine Steve, he probably fell asleep,” Bruce said easily before he went to his meditating. He couldn’t afford to think of Tony right this moment he needed to stay focused.

“Yeah I’ll make it up to him when we get back,” Steve said as they got closer to the drop off point. He cleared his mind, he couldn’t afford to be distracted at the moment, watching as Natasha and Clint both got off first.

“I’ll see you in a little bit,” Steve told Bruce before he ran and jumped off the Quinjet.

Bruce smiled in amusement before he carefully took off his shirt and glasses, waiting on the jet landed on the rooftop before he got off and jumped off the roof transforming into the Hulk before he touched the ground. The Hulk let out a roar, the battle was on.

~&~&~&Breaking of the line~&~&~&~

Tony didn’t wake throughout the battle, his little body trying to compensate for the many sleepless nights his adult body gained. He slept better as a child and since he knew he was safe and protective his sleep was deep. He didn’t get to see any of his teammate in battle nor how good they fared despite being down two members of the team. It did help that they seemed to be fighting just the usual thugs without any special powers which they all were grateful for. 

The little boy would have stayed sleep, even when 3 hours later the Avengers started to climb back on the jet. The that had woken him up was when the jet turned, so did he and he ended up knocking his head onto one of the equipment bags. It didn’t hurt and so he mused for a moment that this was probably the food that he often kept in here for Steve and Thor’s large appetite. 

He moved to grab something from the bag before suddenly frowning at the tightness he could feel in his abdomen. Both the adult part and the child part recognized what was wrong not a second later and he grimaced at the thought. He had been in a hurry to make sure he was on the Quinjet in time that he hadn’t had a chance to visit the bathroom. And now, hours later he was still on the jet after having slept and he had to go worse.

Tony forcefully pushed the child part of his mind forward, he wanted no recollection of a first person point of view if he ended up doing something embarrassing. He chewed his bottom lip silently for a moment as he squirmed in place, he didn’t want to get in trouble but he also didn’t want an accident. 

He was a big boy now and his daddy hated it when he had accidents. Natasha had been mean early and he reasoned that she was be even more mean if he had an accident. And she had all the tools like daddy to hurt him and he didn’t want to risk that. He wasn’t sure how he was going to alert them of his presence, but that decision was also taken from him when he saw Clint rummaging through one of the bags near him. Tony made the split choice to pop his head out and speak.

“Cwint, I hafta go potty,” Tony blurted out anxiously, not even having the grace to look embarrassed as he clutched at his pants. It was a bit more difficult to stand up and hold it but he had wanted to be see.

Clint flinched ever so slightly, the only outward appearance that he had been startled. His pounding heart was another thing which he ignored as he looked at the dancing child in front of him in incredulity.

“What are you even doing up here Tony? How did you get up here?” He asked in disbelief.

“I wanted to pwove dat I wouwdnt be in da way, and I did,” Tony told him happily before he grimaced and tugged at the man’s suit. “I gotta go potty,” he repeated out urgently.

Clint grimaced as well as he turned around him before blowing out a breath, reaching for the child’s free hand to lead him out to where he could be properly buckled in. There was honestly nothing for him to do for the toilet situation. Unlike the Helicarrier, the Quinjet didn’t have bathrooms, the adult Tony never saw a need.

“Guys we have a stowaway,” Clint informed the rest of the team, pulling Tony out in front of him so they could see the child.

Steve and Bruce both gasped in union as they caught wind of the child. “Tony, this is not okay,” Steve told him sternly.

Tony ducked his head at the chastisement before he nodded quickly. “I sowwy,” he added quietly.

“You aren’t but you will be when we get back to the Tower,” Steve told him. He was planning on sticking the child in the corner for four minutes so he could think about what he did. Thankfully Natasha was the on piloting the jet, so Tony wasn’t at risk of getting chewed out just yet.

“Where were you hiding Tony?” Bruce asked curiously.

Tony didn’t seem inclined to answer before he turned back to Clint with a desperate expression on his face. “Potty now pwease,” he begged.

Clint winced before he looked at the two other men. “I don’t suppose we could make a stop, kid’s gotta use the toilet,” he explained even though he knew they had heard the child just ask himself.

“This isn’t the most inconspicuous of fighter jets, how long until we’re back at the tower Natasha?” Bruce asked his eyes frowning as they caught sight of Tony unable to keep still.

“Half hour at this pace,” she said easily. She wasn’t deaf and though she couldn’t see them she could hear them and therefore knew why he was asking.

“And at a faster pace?” Steve prompted not wanting the little boy to have any mishaps.

“Less time, but I wont be speeding up until Tony is buckled up in a seat. I don’t want him hurt,” she told them in a tone that stated they should have realized as such.

“Just hold it for a little bit alright Tony? Natasha is gonna get us home so you can potty,” Clint promised him as he hurried the child to a seat of his own and quickly buckled the boy in.

“Make sure it’s tight,” Steve added even as he watched Clint settle Tony in before he followed suit for himself.

“We’re all buckled in Natasha, you can speed up,” Bruce told her as he gave the little tot a smile. He didn’t think the boy saw as Tony wasn’t able to keep quiet in his seat.

Tony’s head involuntarily went back for a moment as he got adjusted to the speed before he gave off another urgent squirm. He refrained from looking at Captain America as he could literally feel the man’s gaze on him. He didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it, even if he deserved it. 

He didn’t want Steve mad at him what if he started hitting him? He gulped softly whining as the next turn had his seatbelt digging into his tummy. If this kept up he would be wet before they entered the tower and that just wasn’t going to happen to him today. He bent at the waist looking intently at the buckles, not knowing that he was being watched so slowly. He supposed that’s why he jumped when he reached forward to unbuckle a set of the buckles.

“Don’t you dare unbuckle that belt Mister,” Steve said in a low tone. “It is not safe for that to be off just yet so leave it alone,” he added.

“It’s gonna make my potty on mysewf,” Tony whispered out miserably.

“And whose fault would that be? You knew you weren’t allowed to follow us and yet you did it anyway. You deliberately disobeyed us Tony, what do you have to say for yourself?” Steve said quietly.

“I’m sowwy, I just wanted to pwove dat I wouwdnt be in da way. And now I just gotta go potty so bad and you won’t wet me,” the tiny tot gasped out before he burst into tears. This was his punishment for proving them right, they were worst then his daddy in a way. How had he ever thought that they might love him?

“Hey hey, that is not true at all. The jet doesn’t have a bathroom kiddo so we have no choice but to ask you to hold it. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself but we’re nearly back at the tower,” Steve told him kindly, his tone changing as he realized the child was now crying.

Tony sniffled at that before he buried his head into his shirt, willing his body to just wait a little bit longer. He didn’t want to have an accident in front of his idol, he would never be able to look at Captain America ever again. While he sat there stressing over whether or not he would make it, he failed to notice them landing on the Tower’s landing pad only that Natasha suddenly was in front of him and undoing everything. 

He didn’t know what to hold onto as she picked him up and sprinted out of the jet and towards the tower. The child part of his mind that was freaking out got a few seconds reprieve when older Tony thinking the ordeal was over took over only to realize that he was pressed against the Black Widow’s body as she held him. He shook his head and pushed the younger version of him out, as he was not equipped to deal with that on top of everything else.

“Oh, I’m not gonna make it,” the toddler whimpered out unhappily.

“Yes you are, because we are here,” Natasha said easily as she sat him down in the common bathroom before swiftly pulling his pants down and setting him on the toilet.

Tony held the sides of the big toilet with both his hands, sighing in relief as he was finally able to have his release. He didn’t notice Natasha patting his head on her way out as he slumped down happy. He finished and slid off the toilet and flushed before he washed his hands and fixed his shorts before making his way out of the bathroom and to the kitchen or that was his plan as he wanted a snack. He found to his surprise that wasn’t to be the case as Steve suddenly appeared from nowhere and picked him up. He made to protest until he caught the look on the man’s face and figured silence would be the best policy. At least that’s what he thought until the man did set him down in the corner.

“You are to stand here until I come get you, this is punishment for disobeying us when we told you to stay here. If you move I will just bring you back and for every time you move I will add 1 minute,” Steve warned him before he turned to head into the kitchen.

“But I wanted a snack,” Tony whined out as he turned to see the man leave.

“After your punishment you’ll get one,” the Captain promised before he joined his teammates into the kitchen.

“Do you think he’ll move?” Clint asked curiously as he peeked into the other room to check.

“No, he already disobeyed, I think for the moment he’s trying to figure out what’s the rest of his punishment is going to be,” Bruce explained slowly.

“There is no next part, he’s four and he getting four minutes in the corner. After he acknowledges what he did wrong we hug him and then forgive and forget,” Steve said as he glanced at his teammates.

“Man you really did grow up in the thirties,” Clint said with a smirk as he looked at the other man.

Steve only laughed as before rolling his eyes. “And proud of it,” he said as he checked his watch. He didn’t want Tony to be in the corner any longer than necessary. He didn’t want to admit it, but he found himself growing fond of the little bugger. He wasn’t sure what this meant for the team when Tony went back to his normal age. Regardless he knew that he would be there for the man too, no one deserved to be alone least of all Tony Stark.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mission comes up, where does that leave tiny Tony?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dont hate me, I love me some angst but I love happy endings more so just relax yeah? Some other characters are added into the mix as well as some angst. Unfortunatly I saw the trailer for Civil War, both the teaser and the longer version one. I loathed it and it came out in this chapter...oops lol. I hate having to choose, but I will forever be Team Iron Man. And so enjoy the chapter yeah?

Bruce was shaking his head he glanced around the corner yet again, Steve didn’t get it. The Super soldier didn’t understand what the child was actually thinking. Bruce wouldn’t call himself a mind reader, far from it, but he knew Tony. He knew that his home life growing up had been on par with his or Clint’s for that matter. The only two on the Avengers team who didn’t seem to have a real family issue on their team was of course Steve and Thor. Well Thor fit if you didn’t add his psychopath brother or his father’s disregard for anyone other than Asgardians. 

He shook his head, the thoughts getting off topic as he shared a look with Clint. The man had been against the time out, only on the basis that he didn’t totally think Tony did something wrong. He hadn’t been hurt, and he hadn’t lied. He just hid, and they probably wouldn’t have even known about it, if the child hadn’t needed the bathroom and come forward. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, hoping for once that Steve might be right when it came to Tony Stark.

“Are you alright Dr. Banner?” Steve asked quietly, as he looked over at the pensive scientist.

“You’re wrong about Tony, he’s punishing himself now. This isn’t the end of it for him Steve. He’s going to wonder what is next, what do you have in store for him? Ignoring us and believing that we don’t know what we’re talking about is only going to hurt that little boy in the long run,” Bruce stated out calmly.

Clint sighed from where he had been fixing a grilled cheese sandwich. “Bruce is right; it also doesn’t help that you stuck him in the corner while he was heading to the kitchen to get some food. How long has it been since we had breakfast?” The archer pointed out quietly.

Steve frowned, not liking the implications of either of their words. He thought Tony would trust him, that he would do right by him, but maybe he was wrong. You can’t undo years of abuse in a few days, he knew that. He just thought he was getting through to Tony, and he figured something as simple as this would be alright. “I will let him know,” he said slowly.

“You do that, and throw in that Natasha is very proud of him for pulling one over her,” Clint said with a sly smirk as his eyes flicked to his partner.

Natasha rolled her eyes, but gave a grin in return. “I am proud of him, but Stark tends to constantly prove people wrong. He doesn’t like being told he can’t do something,” she said though her tone was fond.

“That’s Tony for you,” Bruce said unnecessarily before he finally took a seat at the table, taking that time to yet again check his watch. “4 minutes is up Cap, call me if you need some help convincing him,” he told the man.

Steve nodded the frown still adorning his face before he made an effort to fix it into something a bit more neutral. He trusted his teammates and they clearly knew more about Tony then he did. Nodding to himself and hurried into the living room and towards the corner where he had last seen the child. He was slightly surprised but Tony hadn’t made a noise since he’d put him here.

“Tony, you can come out of the corner now,” Steve told him quietly.

The little boy tensed the moment the soldier had walked back into the room, he had been hoping that someone else would come and get him. When Steve actually spoke to him, he felt that he would be standing here in wet pants if he hadn’t already relieved himself. He was so scared of what was going to happen. 

His instincts were telling him to run as fast as he could, regardless of the fact that he could smell the yummy goodness coming from the kitchen. He remembered how he had been heading to the kitchen to get some food only to get stopped by Steve, and he gulped softly. He took a deep breath trying to steel himself for what was to come before he finally pulled back from the corner and pivoted to face the man. 

The four-year-old in him was so frightened at the implications that it wasn’t a surprise when Tony felt the older side of his mind come forward to access the situation. He knew logically that no one would hurt him here, but it was a testament to his trust that he actually believed that. This wasn’t something he was overly familiar with and he didn’t want to make it worse. Tony shuddered almost violently not sure that he wanted to know just what else the man had in store for him.

He can’t bear to ask, and almost unnoticeably to himself he started working himself up to a state. He gulps on his air, having a bit of trouble breathing before recognizing the panic attack for what it was. His hand unconsciously goes underneath his shirt to make sure the arc reactor is there, holding onto it tightly in small hand before closing his eyes trying to gain some sort of control. For a moment he forgot that he wasn’t alone until he heard the soldier’s voice.

“Buddy, you’re alright nothing is wrong and I’m not going to hurt you. There is no need to panic,” Steve said in a soothing voice as he gently reached for the child’s free hand. He was aware that the arc reactor was still in the boy’s chest and he wasn’t sure why that was. But Tony hadn’t been very fore coming with the device and none of them wanted to force him to show them so they hadn’t done anything in regards with it. He just hoped it wouldn’t give the child any issues breathing. He gently squeezed the boy’s hand, noting that despite the earlier panic the boy was starting to calm down.

“Are you okay now?” He asked just to be sure.

“Yes I okay,” Tony mumbled out quietly as he stared at his shoes.

Steve didn’t think he believed him but he wasn’t going to keep the conversation there, he did still need to talk about Tony’s behavior today. He let go of the child’s hand and bent down so he could look him in the eye and waited patiently for the child to start explaining himself.

“I’ll just go back to my woom,” Tony said quietly when it became apparent that the man was waiting for him to say something. Sure he was hungry but he had gone hours without food before and he could easily survive without it, at least just until the man had gone to sleep. He didn’t think Jarvis would rat on him, not if the AI had seen him not get to eat, he was Tony’s protector before he was anyone else.

Steve’s frown on deepened as he looked at the child in disbelief. “Why would you go to your room Tony?” He asked quietly.

“Because you’we finking about what my punishment might be. I know how dis goes Stebe,” Tony told him quietly. 

The only bad thing about being four years old was no one really took you seriously. He couldn’t wait until he was returned to normal size again, he ignored the small hurt he felt at the thought. Once he was back to his normal self, they wouldn’t talk to him as if they truly cared about him. The list of people who actually gave a crap about his existence he could count on one hand. He wouldn’t think on that right now; he was trying to think of the positive side of returning back to his adult self.

“I’m not,” Steve said softly, trying to get the child to understand what he is trying to say.

“If dat is so, den why didn’t you let me go into the kitchen to get some food? Da last fing I ate was at bweakfast. And now it’s time fow dinner, you wouldn’t wet me eat,” Tony pointed out with a disgruntled expression.

“You needed to learn your lesson buddy, it wasn’t my intention to let you think you couldn’t eat with us,” Steve muttered out annoyed with himself that Clint had been right.

“You need to be cwear,” Tony said softly as he looked at their shoes. He didn’t want to see the disappointment in the man’s blue eyes.

“I will try to be more clear in the future. For now, I want you to know that you’re not in trouble and I just want you to promise me that you will not do what you did again. It was not safe,” Steve informed him not unkindly.

Tony nodded silently, unsure completely what the hell was going on. But the adult side of his mind seemed inclined to believe that Steve was feeling bad at how he had treated them and that this was a side effect of the man’s actions. He didn’t want the younger side to come out and question the soldier so he finally reached his arms out for the man in the universal sign to get picked up.

“Clint made us some grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, does that seem like something you might like?” Steve asked the child carefully as he hugged the boy for a moment before he turned to head back into the kitchen.

“I wike cheese,” the little boy was quick to say even as he nodded to the man’s question. His little tummy was grumbling something fierce, and he just wanted to fill it.

“That’s good to know, I’ll make a note of that. There are a lot of good dishes that feature cheese,” Steve murmured quietly.

As Steve entered the kitchen with him Tony made sure to keep his eyes averted looking only at the chest of the man who was currently carrying him. He was deathly afraid of what Natasha might do to him for his disobedience, and he didn’t want to find out how she might punish him. He figured if he didn’t make eye contact he would be fine, at least he thought that until Steve set him in his chair, which just happened to be right next to the redhead herself.

“I can…I can eat in my woom Stebe,” Tony stated quietly not even touching his food as he reached out anxiously for the man to pick him up again.

“No no no buddy, I told you that you weren’t in trouble anymore. There is no need for you to excluded from enjoying dinner with all us,” Steve reminded him kindly.

Tony frowned as he kept his eyes rooted to his sandwich, who he noted in some awe and amusement that someone had cut it up into animal shapes. He picked up the dinosaur shaped sandwich and played with it quietly before he took a bite of it, giggling happily. The food almost made him forget that the Black Widow was right next to him, and that he was within arm’s reach of her.

“I didn’t know that we had themed shaped cookie cutters,” Clint said slowly as he looked at Tony’s plate.

“This whole drawer is full of them, I found them a few months ago when I was looking for Tony’s stash of chocolate,” Bruce admitted. He had figured that the little boy could use some cheering up and he was right.

“Definitely going to have to see what else he stocked up here,” Clint said with a smile. He knew the billionaire had some eccentric qualities but he got him and he knew that there was bound to be some fun stuff hidden in the tower to play with.

“Of course you are,” Steve said with a disapproving look. He didn’t want Clint to take advantage of Tony since the man was now a child and couldn’t say who could touch or not touch his things.

“If he didn’t mind us touching it, Tony would have never put it on the common room floor,” Bruce pointed out when he saw Steve’s look.

“Dr. Banner is correct, if Stark didn’t want us touching something it wouldn’t be out here. His lab for instance is hidden and private, no one is allowed in their unless he invites you in” Natasha replied quietly before she turned to arch an eyebrow at the little boy who was trying to carefully scoot away from where she had rested her arm near him.

“I think he’s still scared of you Tasha,” Clint remarked softly noting the exchange.

“Of course he is, no doubt he’s got it into his mind that the second part of his punishment will be with me,” Natasha said not unkindly, noting out the corner of her eye how the child’s head snapped up at that and he was now paying her close attention.

“There is no second part,” Steve repeated firmly, he was getting tired of saying it. But he would say it until everyone understood the message.

“Trust me Cap we understand this, tiny Tony however doesn’t,” Clint murmured out.

Tony sighed as he turned to look at the infamous Black Widow, giving her a grim smile. He knew they were talking about him but like he had been doing this past week he was better off not looking too much into it. He felt a small ache in his tummy and he wanted to get this out of the way so he could finish his yummy food.

“Awe you gonna hit me now?” Tony asked softly, hunching into himself as he asked so he could prepare himself for whenever she decided to strike out at him.

Natasha gave the child a cool look, ignoring the outraged gasp coming from Captain America himself. She didn’t bother looking at Clint or the Doctor knowing that their expressions would mirror how she currently felt. The sorrow that she was currently feeling, she had definitely misjudged her teammate, hopefully once he was returned to normal she would be able to right that wrong.

“No mijo, I’m not going to hit you. No one will harm you here,” Natasha told him firmly, her tone not showing the sadness that she felt for all that this child had endured. 

Tony wrinkled his nose before he finally gave a small shrug before returning to his food. He couldn’t take her word for it and she didn’t promise it not that he would have believed her anyway. As growing up with a man like his father he knew words didn’t mean anything, and neither did promises.

~*~*~*A few days later~&~&~&~

A couple days from Tony’s stint in the corner things were starting to settle into what the Avengers were calling their new normal. Thor had yet to return from his trip to Asgard but they were all hopeful that the God would return with good news. As it was the wizard who had done this to Tony still hadn’t woken up. And had it been any other situation they would have unplugged him from the machine, they just didn’t know that if the man died would the magic that forced Tony to be a child become permanent or not. They didn’t want to do anything drastic and so the man was currently in a Shield hospital as he had been the day of the battle a week or so ago.

The Avengers thoughts were the furthest away from the wizard in the hospital, only worried about their tiny teammate. Tony was currently lying across Steve, Bruce and Clint on the sofa as they watched a movie. He loved the fact that he could watch whatever he wanted (kid wise) and no one made fun of him for it. He couldn’t remember having this much fun when he had been a kid the first time. He gave a happy sigh as he snuggled deeper into Steve’s chest. 

He would never admit it, but this was his favorite place to be, he always felt so safe in the man’s arms. He had never received such comfort like this, and while a part of him loved it, a part of him was terrified on what this actually meant. When he re-aged up, what would happen? He wouldn’t be able to get comforted again, they would treat him like they always did, like everyone did. Like he was a piece of gum on the bottom of their shoe, and he didn’t want to go back to that. Even as an adult he was clearly touched starved.

Tony swallowed thickly, aware that the morose thoughts were yet again invading his mind. He couldn’t think like this; he was starting to hate bringing his adult mind forth, especially when the alternative was to be carefree without worries. But he knew he needed to be careful he didn’t want to lose himself. The little boy was suddenly startled out of his thoughts when that damned alarmed blared out yet again and he immediately placed his hands over his ears even as he pressed himself further into his protector’s chest.

“What the hell? No we just went out to battle a few days ago,” Clint muttered out as the monitor suddenly flicked from the cartoon to the Director of shield; Nick Fury.

“What is happening down there sir?” Steve asked quietly as he seen the man’s dark expression.

“The Winter Soldier is downtown; and according to my watchers he was supposed to take out a target but he hesitated and let the man go. I don’t know what happened, but it’s a very interesting scenario one I think we can use to our advantage. I know that your last time didn’t go too well I need you all to get down there and deal with him now,” Fury replied tightly.

Steve tightened his hold on Tony for a moment, a feeling of hope blossoming in his chest at the man’s words. Maybe this was what he had been waiting for. “So you think Bucky might, that he might be remembering?” He asked breathlessly.

“I’m not sure what to think, what I know is that his handlers are looking for him but I want you all to find him first and bring him to Shield,” Fury replied quickly before he shut off the monitor.

“Well shit, there went the perfect day. I wanted to explore the tower a bit more with Tony,” Clint muttered out as he gave a dramatic sigh at the change of plans.

“You can do that later, this is more important,” Steve said seriously as he set the unusually silent child on the sofa and stood up. He turned towards the redhead who had been awfully quiet during the whole conversation. “Are you alright Natasha?”

“I’ll be fine; come on we don’t have much time. I don’t want him to run, and remember don’t engage him alone,” Natasha said as she ran off towards the flight deck to get the Quinjet started up.

Clint nodded as he grabbed his arrows from where they were hidden underneath the sofa, giving the silent child a smile. “No matter what Cap says, there is nothing more important than you. I would rather be here then chasing the Winter soldier,” he told him firmly. He had wanted to punch Steve for that line, especially when he saw how closed off the child had become. 

Tony gave a small shrug, before he quickly nodded to the archer. His eyes burned at the fact that Clint had seen right through his mask that he had put up, that never happened before. Since when did he care that Captain America didn’t think he wasn’t anything important. He gave a small shudder as he quickly scooted off the couch, he was going to finally cry, he could feel it. His body was preparing for it and he didn’t want Steve to witness that, especially when it was the man’s own fault he was feeling these childish emotions anyway.

“Stay here Tony, Jarvis will lock up everything. If there is an emergency let Jarvis know and he will get one of us,” Bruce told him fondly as he ran his hand through the child’s soft locks. He could see the child fighting the tears but unfortunately he didn’t have the time to comfort him like he wanted too. He quickly hurried to get his Hulk pants knowing they should have left already.

Steve winced at the look Clint gave him on the way out of the room and he frowned at himself for speaking without thinking. He really did want to find Bucky, he wanted his best friend back. But that being said, what the hell was he thinking by saying that? Tony would automatically jump to the wrong conclusion, he always did.

“Hey buddy, I didn’t mean it that way,” Steve said slowly.

“You’d bettew go, you don’t wanna get in twouble wiff Furry,” Tony said thickly before he ran towards the elevator. He took a deep breath pushing the childish part of mind back and letting the grown up him resurface. He knew he would have a price to pay when the kid him came out to play, he was still feeling very emotional but he could think rationally now.

This would be the perfect time to talk with Jarvis as soon as everyone left. He knew Steve hadn’t meant the way it came out, but it still hurt him deep inside. He didn’t like these kid emotions they made everything feel ten times worse than they should have felt. Tony watched silently as the elevator’s door closed, pushing the stop button and sliding down to the floor. 

He was listening for something and it didn’t take long for him to hear it. He could hear the Quinjet leaving, and then all of a sudden locks started clicking into place. Technically he could open them, he had the password but that would alert the Avengers and he so didn’t want to do that. He felt like even Natasha was warming up to him and he didn’t want to ruin anything by being too hasty. 

It only took two minutes for the living quarters in the towers to complete the lockdown but he didn’t move from his position on the floor. He pulled his knees up to his chest as he casually looked up at the ceiling. It was a habit he learned from Steve, as that was how the man addressed his A.I.

“Young sir, is something wrong?” JARVIS asked curiously when it became apparent that the child wasn’t going to get up and move.

“No, um Jarvis you still answer to me wight? Before anyone else, you’ll pwotect my secwets from evewyone won’t you?” Tony asked quietly.

“Of course, you are my first priority, even if you don’t remember me,” JARVIS replied in kind. He wasn’t sure where the child was going with this but he needed to know the boy was reassured.

Tony swallowed thickly before he looked up. “I wemember you Jawvis, I wemember evewything,” he admitted out softly. He gave a small shrug when all he was met with silence, he knew the A.I. was waiting for him to speak like he usually did and he didn’t disappoint him.

“The spell didn’t make me lose any memowies, I still know evewything I evew did. My body is just too small,” Tony finished off with a shrug. “But you can’t tell anyone,” he added quickly.

“Of course not sir, it’s obvious why you are keeping this a secret. I know you sir, and I am happy that this has happened. You are flourishing in such a small amount of time, and I would never ever want to jeopardize your happiness sir,” JARVIS stated firmly.

Tony couldn’t help it; the childish emotions were nearly overwhelming as he gave a pathetic sniffle at the man’s words. “Thanks Jawvis, I knew I could count on you,” he said before swiped the tears away from his eyes and pushed the button for his lab. “I wanna see my bots, have they missed me?” He asked softly.

“Of course they have, Dummy has been extremely worried about you. He knew something happened to you, just not what. I will inform that they need to be a bit more careful with you at the moment,” JARVIS told him easily.

Tony nodded happily as he stood up and waited as the elevator moved downwards. He couldn’t help the smile that grew into a bright grin as he finally had someone in the know. He wasn’t alone in this, and he kept that happy feeling the entire time he was in his lab playing with his robots.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time the team had arrived back from the mission, Tony wasn’t sure what time it was or if it was dark or if there was food. He had completely lost himself as JARVIS and he had worked on a few things that he could do in his small body. He didn’t want to admit to himself but he super excited that everyone was back. He hoped Clint wouldn’t be too tired to play like they had planned to earlier. 

He hurried into his lab bathroom to wipe off the grease from his body, wrinkling his nose at his appearance. He was no longer greasy but he was now damp and he hoped that Steve didn’t question him. Tony had no problem lying to the man, it’s just if Steve caught him in the lie he had a way of making him feel the worse ever. He could barely hold in his excitement as he rode the elevator down.

“Jarvis, is anyone huwt?” Tony asked curiously hoping no one was, he just didn’t want to be surprised. He didn’t like surprises even when he had really been four. Living with Howard meant that any surprise was obviously a bad thing, unless you counted Peggy.

“No, everyone is alright, although there is a slight change in the occupants of the tower now,” JARVIS stated carefully.

“What do you mean? Did Thor come back?” Tony asked curiously his eyes lighting up in excitement. The god was amazing at having fun, and Tony loved being on the big man’s shoulders.

“No Mr. Odinson is not back, I’ve scanned an identified him as Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes as the extra occupant of the tower,” Jarvis said quietly.

Tony gasped suddenly, his back hitting the back of the elevator before he could catch himself. Steve brought him here. to his tower? They didn’t ask for his permission; how could they think this was okay? That man tried to kill all of them at one point and had killed his parents. He gulped audibly quickly leaning forward to push another button to go back up.

“Jarvis I don’t wanna go up there,” Tony pleaded out to his A.I. when it showed that the elevator continued on its upward decent instead of back down to the lab like he hoped.

“If you don’t go, the Captain will just come and find you. I will not allow anyone to harm you here; you know that sir. You had me fitted with the best weaponry possible after what happened with Stane. I will protect you at all costs, no matter who stands in my way,” Jarvis told his creator strongly.

Tony nodded thickly, knowing Jarvis was telling the truth. That didn’t mean that he could just stop the fear in its tracks. He knew logically, or he hoped that Bruce or Clint would protect him if someone went wrong but it was nice to know that Jarvis was still looking out for him. The elevator reached the common floor but Tony refused to leave the safety of it, he just needed a minute to calm himself down. The little boy winced softly once the ding of the elevator rang knowing that someone would have heard it, it was just a matter of when he would be addressed.

He didn’t have to wait too long as he saw to his relief Clint and Bruce both walking towards the open elevator, their expressions slightly grim if he wanted to go into it. He gulped softly scared for the very first time of his teammates. His baby face was so easy for the archer to read and it was of no surprise when the man stopped in the middle of the hallway, gently tugging on Bruce as he did so.

Bruce turned to look at Clint in confusion, as he wasn’t sure just what the man was doing. “What are you doing? Why did you stop?”

“Fix your face, I understand the circumstances but he’s frightened of us at the moment,” the archer replied quietly his gaze never leaving the child who had pressed his body as close as possible to the wall in his fear.

“Do you think he knows what’s going on?” Bruce asked a second later, as his expression turned from the grim one to the one he reserved for his patients.

“Maybe, I don’t know if he’s been talking to Jarvis or not,” Clint said knowing they would find out soon enough. “Regardless he’s scared now and he wasn’t afraid when we left,” he reminded him.

Bruce nodded easily knowing the man was correct before he hurried over to the elevator, his eyebrow arching from how long the door had stayed open. Jarvis must have had a hand in this, figuratively speaking that is.

“Tony, buddy can you tell me what’s the matter? Did something happen when we were gone?” Bruce asked quietly as he bent down to his knees and reached for the child, like he had done that very first day they had been in this situation.

“Why did you bwing da Wintew Soldiew hewe? He killed my mummy and my daddy, why did you bwing him to my home? Do you want him to kill me too?” Tony whispered out brokenly, as he dumbed himself down slightly. He couldn’t let on that his adult mind was fully there and accounted for not when it mattered the most. He no longer felt safe here, he wanted Pepper or Rhodey here to protect him. His teammates were choosing between him and another person, just like he always thought they would. He just never figured it would hurt this much.

Clint swore loudly at that, his eyes looking accusingly at the ceiling where the A.I. spoke from but said nothing at the moment. He hadn’t known really what Tony remembered, it was just bits and pieces but this was a blow. What had they done? He shook his head knowing he had been against this, but Steve and surprisingly Natasha had felt it would be better off if Bucky had come to stay with them instead of with Shield. 

They all knew the risk was great, but it would be an even bigger risk if the Winter Soldier went back online after the Shield agents triggered it. At least here, Steve was able to ground the man back and easily help him come back to himself, but what expense had they paid? Did they truly not want Tony to feel safe in his own home? It was a tough situation; one Clint didn’t think he could decide for. They all needed to have a meeting and he carefully walked over to the child who had moved a bit closer to Bruce but only just and he frowned. They had clearly set back whatever progress they had made for their stupid on the spur moment.

“We need to have a meeting with the others about this, we should have thought that he would remembered just whose tower this is that we live in,” Clint said the frown never leaving his face as he stared at the silent child.

“I know, I was against this but like you saw, it was either here or Shield,” Bruce said with a frown of his own.

“Great, just like that Steve fucked up yet again. This is gonna cement to him that Tony doesn’t matter, what the hell?” Clint said tightly obviously stressed about the whole thing before reaching for the child.

Tony gulped softly before he made his way to the archer and clutched his hand tightly. He didn’t want to be picked up right now. He needed to be free and away if Jarvis needed to retaliate. He kept his head down, the urge to cry even stronger than it had been before, he just wanted Pepper! He forced himself to talk calm breaths as they headed back towards the living room in the common area. Once they got there, he couldn’t make himself look up so he found himself studying the shoes of the three in the room instead.

“What’s wrong with him?” Steve asked quietly when Tony didn’t even bother to look up or greet him with a smile.

“He’s afraid, what do you think?” Clint stated harshly. 

“Why is he afraid? You guys didn’t tell him anything did you? We agreed that we would all tell him together,” Steve said a frown marring his face at that.

“Tony is a smart child, he is well aware of who is sitting at the counter over there,” Bruce said lightly as he pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. 

Natasha carefully stepped towards Clint and Tony knowing without the child even saying anything that the child was obviously feeling betrayed in some kind of way and frankly she couldn’t blame him. But they had no choice, they were still thinking on places where they could place Bucky without Shield’s interference. The tower was just a stopover, she just wasn’t sure for how long.

“малютка I know this isn’t the ideal situation, and I know that you feel like you don’t have a say in this but you do honey. You just need to speak up and tell us,” Natasha stated kindly.

Tony shrugged knowing already how this was going to go, he had lived with Howard who could be just as cold and callous as Natasha was being. They both had their good moments, however rare they were but he wouldn’t fall into that sense of false security. He knew just like he thought; that he clearly meant nothing to them and never will. He wasn’t going to speak as soon as he was alone he was asking Jarvis to call for Pepper. He pressed the side of his face firmly into Clint’s side, his little boy trembling from his emotions.

Steve was still frowning feeling awful, worse than he had ever felt before. He hadn’t meant for this to cause in discord in the house. He was aware that this was Tony’s house, and he was disheartened to know that the adult Tony probably wouldn’t have been comfortable with Bucky staying here but wouldn’t have said anything. At least this way they knew where he stood in regards to that. He would be working double trying to find a safe haven for his friend and him to go. He didn’t want to lose Bucky again.

“As lovely as this tensed silence is, where does that leave us?” Clint asked after a moment, he wasn’t going to stand here when it was distressing the child and by association Bruce. The last thing they needed was the Hulk free and attacking Bucky, knowing that this was the cause of Tony’s distress.

“I’m not completely sure exactly, but we do need to discuss where Bucky will be sleeping for the time being,” Steve said carefully as he glanced back at his silent friend. He had yet to speak up regarding this whole thing, trusting Steve not to lead him astray.

“That’s a fairly obvious question, clearly he’ll be in your spare bedroom. He doesn’t trust anyone else and the feeling is mutual in that respect,” Natasha said bluntly.

Steve nodded before he blew out a breath that’s exactly what he had been thinking, this was the better solution. “Alright that’s what we’ll do then,”

Tony snapped his head up quickly to turn to give Steve a betrayed look. “I sleep there!” He spat out, his anger getting the best of him before he started to pull on Clint’s hand that held him still. He could feel the tears in the back of his eyes, his stomach was churning in hurt and anger and he wanted to be far away from here. “Let go!” He screamed out anguishly when Clint only held onto him tighter.

“No buddy, you can’t run away from this, I know it hurts but we’ve got to talk about it. And while Steve should have realized that before offering up his spare room, you can stay with me buddy,” Clint said quickly as he bent down to hold the child tightly.

“No no no! Pwease stop,” Tony was pleading out tearfully, how could Steve do this? He could feel the tears making their way down his face and Clint was being unreasonable.

“Tony stop, buddy quit fighting me. You aren’t going anywhere,” Clint murmured out softly. He knew why the child was angry, he understood that. The feeling of someone tossing you out for someone better wasn’t something one got used to and it was even worse for a child. He didn’t know how Steve was going to fix this and frankly at the moment he didn’t care. The man had dug his own grave, especially when Pepper had heard about this and make no mistake she would. That woman had a way of finding out anything and everything that had to do with Tony Stark.

“Pwease,” Tony continued pleading out before he quieted for a moment before he steeled himself for what he was going to do. He hated to alienate what seemed to be one of his few supporters here but it had to be done. He took a breath before he bit down hard on the hand that was holding him tight.

“Ouch, what the fuck Tony?” Clint winced out, even as he held firm to the child. Getting bitten by a four-year-old wasn’t the worse pain he had been in so while it hurt it was bearable.

Tony was staring at him in confusion, he had been for sure that would have worked. It had worked when people were trying to kidnap him in the past. His tears stopped for a moment as he stared at the man in wonder, was this Clint’s superpower? “Why haven’t you let go?”

“Because there are worst things buddy, and I do not want you to hide yourself away just so you can cry alone. You still have people here for you even if it doesn’t seem like it. Bruce come grab Tony and go upstairs, I’ll be up in a bit to set up my spare room,” Clint said waiting until Bruce had a firm grip on Tony’s hand before he let the child go. He looked at the tiny teeth marks on his arm and grinned ruefully. He had to give it to the kid, he was tough.

The archer waited patiently until the elevator had closed and had gone up before he turned to look back at Steve incredulously. He couldn’t believe the gall of the man nor Natasha for that matter. He didn’t even know where he stood in regards to everything now, everything was just so fucked up now. 

Steve was looking steadily in the direction of where Bruce and Tony had disappeared too feeling like his world was crumbling down. How had he messed up everything so fast? He was only trying to what he thought was best for everyone.

“You fucked up Cap, I think it’s best if you both keep away from Tony for a while. Keep an eye out for some space for him to stay because he can’t stay here,” Clint said tightly.

“That’s not your decision Clint,” Steve said quietly.

“No it’s not, it’s Tony and he’s made that perfectly clear how he feels about the Winter Soldier being here. This is his house, regardless of his age,” Clint said with a half shrug.

“Because of his age that makes us his guardians, and so we can decide who to have here,” Steve replied carefully unsure of where Clint thought he was going with this.

“That would be true in any other house, but not this tower, not even close. Jarvis, how many days can the Winter Soldier reside here?” Clint asked quietly, his eyes boring into the Captain’s watching in satisfaction when the man frowned.

“Young sir is inconsolable at the moment so I would suggest a week at the most. I will not have him feeling distressed in his own home. As he is my creator I have made a promise to him and I will fulfill it when I deem it necessary to do so. He may not be the correct age but I know who I will side with, and it will always be with sir,” Jarvis said his tone sending out a clear message to the four who were listening.

“There you go, find another place for him or Jarvis will deal with you both,” Clint said with a shake of his head. He couldn’t even look at Natasha before he turned and headed towards the elevator, he had a child to comfort.

Natasha watched her partner leave without even sparing her a glance and winced before turning to look at Steve who was still staring at the ceiling in horror. 

“Unless we can change Tony’s mind about Bucky, he’s going to need to find someone place else by next week. Neither of you will be safe here, I’m not even sure I will be,” Natasha admitted quietly.

Steve blew out a breath as he turned to look at his friend, who was staring hard back into his own blue eyes. He never wanted Tony to feel like he was choosing between him and Bucky but honestly he would go with Buck any day. They had been through thick and thin and while he felt awful about it, when it all came down to it, Bucky was the priority.  
That wasn’t what he was currently thinking on though, he couldn’t stop the fast beating of his heart at the A.I.’s words. The super soldier had joked with Jarvis about Fury he hadn’t been sure that the A.I. even had that function but now he knew for sure and he couldn’t stop the fear he felt. Steve scoffed feeling the weight of everything suddenly on his shoulders which had slumped down. Not even the excitement that he had finally found his best friend could change it. He needed a distraction, not noticing when Natasha finally left the room as he made his way over to his friend, carefully sitting across from him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile upstairs Bruce had gone to Steve’s quarters to clean out everything of Tony’s that had been in the spare room and the bathroom. He grabbed the stool under his arm, and glanced back to the open elevator sighing softly when the child continued looking at the ground. He and Clint had warned Steve about the fragile state of Tony and the man went and pulled this? It was only his relaxation technique and the fact that he would scare Tony that kept the Hulk at bay. He wanted to rip the super soldier from limb to limb, which was saying something as he and the Hulk never tended to agree on much of anything.

He headed back into the bedroom not wanting to forget anything knowing they wouldn’t be coming back here, especially once the Winter Soldier started to reside here. As he went to bend down to grab the stuff teddy bear that resembled the Hulk from the bed, he heard the elevator ding shut and he swore softly. He didn’t know where Tony was going only that Jarvis wouldn’t listen to him at the moment. He sighed as he quickly finished up hoping that Tony went to Clint’s room, but he was doubtful.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
Tony sniffled softly as the elevator rose up, he knew that it was an awful thing to do to Bruce but quite honestly he just wanted to be alone. He didn’t feel safe or comfortable here anymore, no one listened to him. Just like that, he was being replaced as if he meant nothing to Steve. He choked on a sob as he tried to gain control of his emotions, his tiny arms holding his stomach in self comfort. 

“Sir, who can I get for you? Who can I call?” Jarvis asked subsequently distressed that he couldn’t help his young creator like he needed too. He led the elevator up to the penthouse ignoring both the archer and Bruce alike knowing that even though they had Tony’s best interests at heart he needed to speak with his creator alone.

“Put da penthouse on wockdown mode Jawvis, no one can come up hewe unless dey have the passcode,” Tony sniffled out tearfully.

“Lockdown initiated and complete,” Jarvis replied a moment later before he asked again. “Who can I call?”

“Can you call Peppew?” Tony whispered out devastated at the turn of the events. And this morning had started out perfectly why had it ended like this.

“Right away sir,” Jarvis replied in kind as he made the call. He figuratively frowned as the call was put through to voicemail, knowing that the woman was probably in a meeting.

Tony frowned as he climbed onto his bed, and hugged his pillow to his chest. He wished he had of waited until Bruce had given him a stuffy but he didn’t think he would get another chance to be alone on the elevator. He felt so alone, and he didn’t like it. He wanted to be somewhere else, this is why he never let anyone else in they always ended up hurting him in the end.

“I want Whodey,” he sniffled out after a moment, hoping like hell that Rhodey wasn’t on a mission and could come for him.

Jarvis did as he was asked, sighing relief as the phone was picked up on the first ring. “Tones, are you okay buddy?” Rhodey asked immediately, as it was a bit unusual to get a call from Tony at this time. It was pushing 9pm and after having been appraised of the current situation at the Avengers tower he had figured the child would be in the bed right now.

“I need you to come hewe wiff me, I need you Whodey,” Tony whispered out unhappily.

“What’s happened? Did someone hurt you? Who was it?” Rhodey asked quietly, keeping his voice even; not wanting to scare the child, but he was fuming.

“Dey just chose him ovew me, I knew it was gonna happen. Whodey dey bwought him into my tower and he gets to stay hewe even though I don’t feel safe hewe wiff him,” Tony told the man ruefully.

Rhodey closed his eyes tightly, his teeth clenching in his anger, wondering what the hell was going on in the Avenger Tower. He blew out a breath calmly, his free hand already arranging a meeting with his superior on his phone. “Who did they bring to the tower Tony?”

“The Winter Soldier,” Tony replied quietly in response. “Dey found out that it’s Stebe’s old fwiend Bucky,” he explained.

“I’m in Washington D.C. right now Tony, I need to talk with my superior but once he clears me I will be there within 4 hours alright? Where are you now buddy?” Rhodey asked quietly choosing not to reply to just who they had let into the tower. He always knew it would come to this, someone somewhere always took advantage of the good fortune Tony had. He had just thought it wouldn’t be Steve who had done it, apparently he had proven wrong.

“I’m in da penthouse, Jawvis put it on wockdown, so nobody can come up unwess I say so,” Tony replied proudly.

“Good, is there anybody in there that disagreed with Steve?” Rhodey asked hoping that all the Avengers hadn’t sided with Steve, he didn’t think so but he needed to be sure.

“Cwint and Bwuce did,” Tony admitted.

“Alright, you can get Jarvis to let them up there with you but then go back to lockdown mode until I get there alright?” He replied quietly.

“Otay, just don’t fowget to come,” Tony added softly.

“Never Tones,” Rhodey promised him before he hung up the phone and quickly got up to grab his things; he had work to do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tony sighed softly when the phone call clicked off, a small grin appearing in his face in amusement at just what the thought of what Rhodey being here might mean. They would be able go places and play and then tell Steve where to stick. He was very much looking forward to that the most of all. He giggled softly feeling much before as he hurried over to the elevator and pushed the button.

“Jawvis, can you tell Bwuce and Cwint dey can come up hewe?” Tony asked hopefully.

“Of course sir, just a moment,” JARVIS replied as he relayed the message.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back in Clint’s quarters Bruce was helping the man set up the spare bedroom, he hadn’t gone back downstairs not wanting to deal with the awkward situation. He was slightly startled when he heard the voice of JARVIS, a sigh of relief as he hoped that meant that Tony was okay. He would prefer to see him himself, but he would take the A.I.’s word for it.

“Young sir is requesting both of your presences up in the penthouse,” Jarvis informed him.

“Is he okay?” Clint asked immediately stopping what he was doing.

“He will be fine, Colonel Rhodes will be here in a few hours and he needs some company before then,” Jarvis replied.

Clint turned to Bruce at that, his eyes wide in disbelief. “Shit is about to hit the fan,” he muttered out as they made their way to the elevator.

“And I cannot wait,” Bruce said smugly as he pushed the button. It was time for someone to stand up to Tony, he needed to know that he mattered to people too.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I saw Captain America Civil War, just last week. I hadn't updated this because I knew there was a scene I needed to see in the movie just from the trailer. And I loathed the movie, I love Tony Stark and this movie actually made me hate Steve Rogers with every fiber of my being. My emotions tend to bleed into my writing so I took a moment and didn't add on it. After the movie and what happened with it, I couldn't continue with my original plan. No fighting takes place here, the movie was enough. This was a difficult chapter to write as well, I wrote bits and pieces over the two months and I still wasn't able to make it to 7,000 words. it's a couple hundred words off but it'll have to do, if I keep it who knows when I'll actually complete the chapter.
> 
> Also I'm not blaming Bucky for the mind control. People say a lot of things in anger. When you hurt you want to hurt the person who caused that pain. Keep that in mind.

Rhodey took a deep breath as he came out of his superior’s office after informing him that he was needed in New York. Due to Tony being who he was the Military was grateful for the Iron Patriot’s suit, and wanted to keep the man as happy as possible. That and the fact that he and Tony were friends kept him as a liaison to the Avengers. Add into the fact that the only thing he needed to say was that there was something going on with Anthony Stark and he was cleared for the next month or so. 

He doubted he needed that long but he would take it and stay there for however long Tony needed him to be. He was still fuming, especially if he thought back to how that little boy had sounded on the phone. He felt even angrier that he or Pepper weren’t there in the tower with him. He swallowed inaudibly for a moment wondering if she even knew what was going on. He knew if Tony called him then there was a chance that Pepper didn’t pick up. 

He sighed softly before he dialed her number as he headed to catch his flight. He had told Tony four hours as he wasn’t sure how long the meeting with his superior would take. It had only lasted a half hour, and it was an hour or so flight to New York. He was making great time and that just meant the sooner he would get to Tony. He put the phone to his ear, and calmed down, knowing he would never be able to speak if he didn’t. He didn’t have to wait long as the phone was picked up.

“Virginia Potts speaking, who is calling?” Came Pepper’s professional voice.

“Pepper it’s me, have you spoken with Tony tonight?” Rhodey asked calmly.

“Not today I haven’t, I think I might have missed his call an hour ago. But I assume he’s in bed now so I’ll call him tomorrow,” Pepper replied in return.

“He’s not in bed, he’s scared out of his mind. I’m headed to New York as we speak,” James replied tightly, it was hard to keep a rein on his emotions right now.

“What’s happened? I missed his call, what if he needed me?” Pepper asked softly, already moving from where she was behind her desk.

“Those bastards called his teammates brought a known murderer into his tower and is allowing him to stay there. Knowing how Tony himself feels about that, they’re disregarding all of his feelings,” Rhodey stated angrily.

“Who did they bring?” Pepper asked dangerously.

“The Winter Solider, apparently he’s Steve’s old friend Barnes. I don’t care who he is, when someone reduces Tony to tears regardless of his age, shit is gonna get rough really quickly,” James responded.

“What did they do? Oh god, he’s in the tower all alone with them,” Pepper said her hand going to her heart in fear for what might be happening in Avenger Tower.

“Calm down Pepper, I’m coming. He’s not totally alone, he told me that Clint and Bruce are on his side. I told him to bring them up the penthouse and place it on lockdown. I’m coming over as soon as I land, are you?” Rhodey asked strongly.

“Of course, just swing by the office on your way here. We need a plan on what to do anyway,” Pepper replied automatically.

“Alright, I’ll see you in an hour,” Rhodey said firmly as he hung up the phone.

~*~*~*~*~The Penthouse*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Clint glanced at Bruce yet again to find the man still reading the same book he had grabbed when they first went up here. He was feeling restless but he could care less at the moment. It only mattered on how Tony felt, and as it was the little boy was sitting in his lap watching some cartoons. Well the child seemed to be dozing off, but Clint knew his rest was anything but restful. The boy had jerked awake at least twice already his eyes wide in fright as if he was expecting someone to hurt him.

The archer growled softly knowing that the child was expecting just that and Steve was clearly to blame for all of this. The archer was feeling slightly hungry and he bet that Tony and Bruce was feeling the same way. Going down to the common floor kitchen was a no go especially since Clint wasn’t sure he would be able to control himself there. The penthouse had no food as Tony rarely ate up here. He wasn’t sure what to do if he was being honest. He opened his mouth to ask Jarvis where they might be able to get some food when the phone rang, and he felt the A.I. answer it immediately.

“Jarvis, is Tony alright? I just got a called from Rhodey and I’m worried about his safety,” Pepper’s anxious voice filled the room.

“Young sir is alright, he’s shaken but both Mr. Barton and Dr. Banner are with him as we speak,” Jarvis replied promptly.

“What is he doing?” Pepper asked as she blew out a quiet breath in relief.

“He’s sleeping Pepper,” Bruce piped in before Jarvis could answer. He gave the woman a small smile as he turned to look at the quiet child.

“I’m not sweeping, I was westing is all,” Tony said with a sigh as he looked at the screen. “I called you Peppew, but you didn’t answew,” he mumbled out.

“I know baby; I was tied up in a meeting that ran way too late. I’m here now, and I’ll be coming over there with Rhodey as soon as he flies in,” she promised him.

Tony blew out a breath softly in relief, this is what he needed. His heart warmed at her term of endearment for him even if he knew she meant it like a mother to a child. He didn’t care about that, she loved him! He needed the people who supported and loved him for him. He was glad that they were both coming together, and then he would have four people on his side, five if you count Jarvis and he did. He giggled softly to himself, as he never thought he could include Bruce or Clint for that matter.

“Okay, we’we in da penthouse, and I’m hungwy,” he told her with a sigh. He hadn’t eaten since maybe lunch before the mission even started.

“Would you like me to bring you something or for Jarvis to order something for you all?” Pepper asked him calmly.

“Um, Jarvis can do it, I’ll see you later Peppew,” Tony said happily.

“I’ll call you when Rhodey gets here to keep you updated, unless you fall asleep,” she informed them all.

“We’ll be here and awake,” Clint responded easily as the call clicked off. He turned to look at the little boy in his lap curiously. “Now what did you want to eat?”

“Some fwies, and a hot dog,” Tony said seriously.

“I could probabaly make those, but I don’t trust myself to go down into the kitchen to get said supplies,” Clint said with a shake of his head.

“I’ll do it, I don’t want to endanger someone else if you know who decides to go back to you know what,” Bruce said cryptically as he gave a look in Tony’s direction.

Clint knew he meant Bucky and the Winter Soldier and they didn’t feel like scaring Tony, speaking in slight code would work just fine. “Alright, just let Jarvis know, you know it’s in lockdown mode,” he reminded him.

“Quite right Mr. Barton, it will be disabled for a moment and then placed again on lockdown. When you’re ready I will know and I will disable it yet again,” Jarvis stated easily.

Bruce sighed softly, thankful that he had a hand on keeping his emotions down. He knew they would give him a wide berth either way and he was grateful for it. He gave the tiny tot a small smile before he headed to the elevator disappearing into it as the doors closed.

“Hey Jawvis, can we watch Bwuce on da scween?” Tony asked with a sly grin. He wanted to see how this would play out. He noted in even more amusement how Clint didn’t even say anything to object it, evidently the archer agreed with him.

~*~*~*~*~Common Room Floor*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bruce took a deep breath centering himself as the elevator went down to the common room floor. It wasn’t that late and under normal circumstances no one would even be asleep, they would all be watching a movie with Tony. He shook his head trying to keep his mind calm and blank, and when the doors opened he strode out of the elevator and headed towards the kitchen.

He was aware of two things when he stepped out the elevator, one was that Natasha wasn’t up here and Steve and his friend were still in the kitchen. He didn’t even look at them as he headed directly to the freezer to grab what he needed. He bit the inside of his jaw when he saw the Captain move as if he wanted to speak. He didn’t want to hear the man say anything, not unless it was an apology to Tony. Too bad the super soldier didn’t have mind reading to tell him that. Bruce paid him no attention as he grabbed a bag of frozen hot dogs from the freezer before looking for the frozen fries he knew were here.

“Bruce, can we talk?” Steve asked quietly as he watched his teammate and hopefully still friend grab food from the freezer.

“There is honestly nothing I want to hear from you right now,” Bruce said with a shake of his head, as he reached to grab the basket underneath the sink to put all the food inside. He wasn’t going to struggle to carry everything, nor risk Steve trying to help and assert himself the way the man often did.

Steve frowned at the man’s words but he needed to try something. “Can’t you see it from my side of things?” He pleaded.

“Can you see it from Tony’s?” Bruce retorted back before he grabbed some milk, knowing that the child was definitely not getting soda this late. He contemplated telling them about Pepper and Rhodes coming but decided to keep it a secret. It would be a wonderful surprise no doubt and he wasn’t going to ruin it.

“He just doesn’t understand what I’m doing for Bucky,” Steve said his frown deepening.

“No, it’s you don’t understand. You’re not doing this for him but for you. I understand that you wish to cling to that last normal semblance of your old life. And I’m never gonna begrudge you for that. It’s when you let that blind you from what’s in front of you, that I start to get angry with you. How dare you treat that child up there like shit? How dare you expect him to allow someone who he knows killed his parents, into his sanctuary and be okay with it? How dare you presume to know who the fuck Tony even is?” Bruce stated heatedly, watching almost impassively as the skin around his hands started to turn green. 

He took a deep breath, hating that the man had gotten to him. He didn’t curse often but he had because Rogers was so full of shit at the moment. He noticed out of the corner of his eye how the Winter Soldier tensed up, but he didn’t care. If the man came at him, he would happily let the Hulk out to play.

Steve gasped softly as he took a step back from the man, a feeling of deep hurt coming into his chest at the man’s words. He hadn’t meant to do this; true he was clinging to Bucky but that was to be expected right? “I’m sorry,” he repeated out hoarsely.

“Again that apology is not meant for me,” Bruce said as he got himself back under control and grabbed the basket and headed out of the kitchen. He frowned as he saw Natasha waiting almost casually by the elevator, she had another thing coming if she thought she was following him to the penthouse.

“I just want to talk,” Natasha said calmly when she saw the stony look on the Doctor’s face.

“I don’t want to talk to you, or to Steve. I want you both to leave me alone, you all seem to forget how close the Hulk sits to my skin,” Bruce said tightly.

“I never meant for it to come to this, I don’t agree fully with what’s going on. I don’t want any of us at odds, we’re a team,” Natasha said quietly.

“Teammates don’t treat other teammates like crap, this isn’t the first time that Tony has been left out to dry. This is the first time where he knows that he’s not alone, I’m glad I’m on his side, I just wish the rest of Avengers were as well,” Bruce said with a slight shrug, as he pressed the elevator. He knew it wouldn’t even open until she walked away.

Natasha frowned, she wanted to say she was on Tony’s side too, but she agreed with Steve at the moment regarding Bucky. This was the best solution until a better one could be found. She huffed softly as she looked at the ceiling knowing that Jarvis was figuratively frowning at her and she couldn’t blame him. She sighed, hoping that Clint was still her friend, she couldn’t stand it if she lost him too. Natasha headed back to the kitchen, shuddering for a moment as a feeling set into her skin before she shook it off.

“You okay?” Steve asked curiously seeing the look on her face.

“Something is gonna happen, and I’m worried is all,” She admitted.

“What do you mean? With us, the Avengers?” Steve asked getting alarmed himself.

“I’m not completely sure, I just have a bad feeling that shit is gonna get ugly really quickly,” Natasha replied with a frown as she carefully sat across Bucky on the table.

“You don’t have to worry, I can handle whatever it may be,” Bucky replied hoarsely.

“That is what I’m afraid of,” Natasha said with a sigh.

*~*~*~*Penthouse~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Bruce stepped out of the elevator at the penthouse level, he was free of any green tinge to his skin and once more in control. He had taken a moment in the elevator to calm himself down as he didn’t want to scare Tony. He needed to be in control, he didn’t want the child to fear him. Even as he doubted the Hulk would hurt the child, knowing how he currently felt about that small boy on the bed, he knew his alter would be just as protective when it came down to it.

“Clint, do you want to switch places with me? Or I can cook the food if you want?” Bruce stated quietly as he realized the child on the bed might be asleep.

“It doesn’t matter honestly, he’s kind of dozing right now but I think he’ll wake up if I move,” Clint said as he looked down at the sleeping child before he looked back up at his friend. 

“That’s alright then, I can cook this. He needs all the sleep he can get,” Bruce said with a fond expression on his face before he headed into the kitchen area of the Penthouse. He noted in amusement that it didn’t look like it had ever been used, and knowing Tony it probably hadn’t. 

Clint looked up at the ceiling before he carefully looked down at the child in his arms. He was feeling extremely out of sorts, he didn’t like being on the other side of his partner and he frowned softly to himself. She had made her decision and he his, but he honestly wanted to know just what the hell she had been thinking. He sighed before he carefully tried to set the child on the bed, only to wince when the boy whimpered on and only held onto him tighter.

“No, stay,” the little boy whimpered softly in his sleep.

“Jarvis, could you call Natasha for me? I know she won’t hurt Tony but I don’t feel comfortable invading his space knowing she was on Cap’s side. And so a video chat will have to do,” Clint murmured quietly as he verbally rationalized his inner monologue on how he currently felt.

“I think that might be best,” JARVIS agreed easily as he set the call up. 

Clint arranged Tony as much as he could, looking up when the call went through, he shook his head as the amusement came forth. It was kind of funny to think that they were all in the same tower but were communicating this way. 

He sighed, hating the reason for that, he had thought that he and the team were perfect with all their flaws but everything was in such disarray, and he had no idea how they were all going to fix it. He schooled his expression when his partner appeared on the screen, his hand covering half of the boy’s face unconsciously as if he could protect his tiny teammate from her now.

“Clint, is Tony doing alright?” Natasha asked in concern, that was truly her first thought.

“Physically speaking, he’s perfect, emotionally speaking; honestly Tasha what do you think?” Clint asked with a roll of his eyes.

“I think this is a huge misunderstanding, it wasn’t supposed to be this way. We all just need to sit down and talk this out,” Natasha said calmly.

“To hell with that, Cap doesn’t understand what it means to compromise and so I’m not going back down there until Bruce and I have adequate back up to prove our point,” Clint said with a half shrug. He knew she would try to figure out what that meant with his small clue, and he honestly didn’t care. He didn’t think that Rhodey or Pepper had her in their sights anyway. 

“What does that mean? Is someone else coming here?” Natasha asked slowly.

“I’m sure when shit finally hits the fan, you’ll have a front row seat,” Clint said cryptically, his expression still as neutral as the beginning.

Natasha sighed softly, knowing she wasn’t going to get much out of him right now. She just had to know one thing, he hadn’t answered before. “Are we still friends?” She asked quietly.  
“Of course we are, we’re just at an impasse right now. I know everything is going to be sorted out, but for right now I’m going to stay up here with Bruce and Tony,” Clint said with a shrug.

“I understand, take care of him,” Natasha said softly before she leaned forward and disconnected the call.

Clint sighed softly, hoping that he was right and that soon enough they would come together again. He hated being on the opposite sides of his teammates.

 

~*~*~*Stark Industries~*~*~*~*

Rhodey walked into Stark Industries, watching in amusement as everyone moved out of his way. He had left the airport and immediately donned his Iron Patriot persona and had flown to the city knowing he would get there faster than by car. 

Tony had called him just after 9pm and it was pushing 11:30pm, he had made some good time. He quirked an eyebrow as he looked around the building, didn’t people sleep? He ignored them as he headed up to Pepper’s floor and her office. He wasn’t surprised to find her already waiting for him the minute he got off the elevator. 

“Have you been in contact with JARVIS?” Pepper asked curiously. “I talked with Bruce not too long ago, he told me that Tony woke up to eat before he fell back asleep. However, he’s refusing to let go of at least one them while he’s sleeping. That means he’s still scared in his sleep, he only used to sleep like that when his dreams invaded,” she said softly.

“I know,” Rhodey replied tightly remembering their college days fondly, though at the moment he was beyond irritated. “You take the car with Happy and I’ll meet you at the  
Tower,” he told her as he headed towards the window.

“Alright, I’ll be there soon,” she promised him as she hurried to the elevator. 

Rhodey took a breath before he jumped out the window, his suit knowing without him steering it where to go. He tightened his control just a bit more, he needed to be rational about this. He didn’t want to end up scaring Tony again, and he was glad that JARVIS had made sure that Tony was separated from the Captain and his…friend.  
He noted in amusement as he got closer, he heard JARVIS’s voice in his suit and then watched as the Tower opened to allow him entry. He was slightly unsure of whether he should see to Tony now or confront the Captain first. As he headed to the elevator, that decision was taken away from him as he felt rather than saw someone behind him.

“Colonel Rhodes, I didn’t know you were coming,” Steve said carefully unsure of just what the man was doing here, or for that matter how he even got in without them knowing.

“You weren’t to know Captain, as you seemed to be conveniently forgetting this is not your house. You might live here but the choices about what happens here aren’t and will never be up to you,” Rhodey replied in a much too calm tone. He made an unconscious decision to keep his suit on for the moment, just in case something happened he wanted to be prepared for it.

Steve immediately went on his guard at the man’s tone, his eyes flickering up the ceiling where he knew Jarvis didn’t reside but his voice came from. “Who called you here?”

“That is also none of your concern Captain, I Don’t answer to you. At this point in time I don’t even like you, I’m tolerating you for the moment because I’m waiting for Pepper to get here. And when she does we’ll all have a talk to discuss just what the fuck you thought you were doing when you brought him here,” Rhodey replied, his tone turning dangerous on the end.

“I see,” Steve replied slowly because honestly what could he really do or say for that matter. He had a bad feeling about all of this, and for the first time he was starting to regret bring Bucky here without thinking of Tony first.

“You don’t, but by the time we’re done with you, you will,” Rhodey replied evenly before he stepped into the elevator. 

He stared impassively at the other man before he placed his palm against the touchscreen in the elevator. He, like Pepper didn’t have to give a password they were keyed into every inch of Tony’s life. Rhodey watched the doors close, giving a small exhale when he could no longer see the man anymore. “Can I have an update on Tony JARVIS? Is he still sleeping?”

“Yes he is, but I have no doubt he wants you to wake him up when you get up there,” Jarvis replied easily.

“I was planning on it anyway, I just wanted to see what he was up too,” the soldier replied easily as the doors opened to the penthouse, quirking an eyebrow in amusement as the other two men took on a defensive stance around his tiny friend.

“I thought Pepper was coming with you?” Bruce asked in confusion as he saw the man come in alone.

“She is, I just took the suit and she took the car,” Rhodey replied as he made his way over to the bed to where tiny Tony was sleeping. 

“I don’t really want to wake him, but honestly this shit doesn’t need to fester anymore,” Clint murmured as he gently shook the child.

“I agree completely,” Rhodey replied easily as he pushed the button to allow the suit to release him. He knew that Tony was naturally affectionate having been starved affection and would want to hug him and he didn’t want anything to be in their way.

“Buddy, I need you to wake up now. Someone is here to see you,” Clint said quietly.

“I’m sweeping, I don’t care who it is unwess it’s Whodey or Peppew,” Tony grumbled out sleepily.

“Tones, I’m here kiddo,” Rhodey replied easily as he bent down to the child’s level.

Tony’s eyes snapped open when he heard that, all sleepiness gone as he threw himself at the older man. “Whodey, you came!” He squealed out happily as he buried his face into the man’s neck.

“I will always come for you buddy,” Rhodey promised him as he hugged him tightly in return. He couldn’t understand how people could hurt Tony like this, especially when he was this size. Didn’t anybody have a goddamn heart anymore?

“Is Peppew coming too?” Tony whispered out softly.

“She’s on her way as we speak,” Rhodey replied seriously.

“Good, I’ve been waiting for da boff of you,” he told him honestly.

“I know you have buddy,” Rhodey replied softly. 

Rhodey stood up carefully, making sure that Tony was supported with his arms as he looked up at the two men who hadn’t said anything about the Cap when he arrived. “How did you gentlemen wish to go about this? I’m trying to be the rational one, because if I let my emotions cloud my judgement you’ll be hearing about Captain America getting punched in the face by the Iron Patriot on the news. And I don’t need anyone to tell me how ironic that even sounds,” he chuckled dryly.

“The Hulk wishes to have a few words with Captain, so I don’t think your idea is too far-fetched,” Bruce replied with a smile. “However, I don’t wasn’t Tony to be exposed to any violence,” he added.

“That is true,” Rhodey replied as he kissed the soft locks on the child’s head. “He’s been hurting for way to long as it is. I saw this deaging fiasco as a second chance of sorts. But the Captain’s fat head is messing what little time we have with tiny Tony the fuck up,” he said frowning.

“Perhaps we should watch our language when we talk, since we have little ears here,” Clint interjected delicately.

Tony took that time to turn to look at the archer, giving him a coy smile. “I know worser words den dat, wanna hear?” The little boy asked him, his eyes sparkling in amusement.  
Bruce gave a loud laugh at that, as well as Rhodey as Clint tried to be stern but ending up grinning in response to that. “No buddy I believe you, but let’s not say those words alright? They’re not very nice ones,” he told the child gently.

“Kay,” Tony replied happily as he turned back to snuggle with Rhodey.

“So what is the plan once Pepper gets here?” Clint asked, he always felt better if he had a rough idea of what he needed to do. He hated going in anything blind.

“First off, I don’t want to fight the American Icon, I will if I have too. And I know Jarvis will back me up to the fullest extent of his capabilities. I just want to know honestly, what the man thought he was doing? Why he didn’t talk this through with the team and Tony? And I get that Tony is a child, but he’s not stupid, he far from that. I have to be his protector because he can’t protect himself right now and he shouldn’t have too. This is his team, does that word mean anything anymore?” Rhodey asked tightly.

“It means something to be, Tony gave me a home when no one else did. He wasn’t afraid of me, and he never flinched when I got angry or lost my temper. He actually tried to make me lose it, for science he said,” Bruce said softly.

“That’s the kind of guy he is, once he lets you in he clings hard to not let you out again,” Rhodey told them seriously.

“Well then it’s a good thing that we don’t mind,” Clint replied happily as he led the way to the elevator. He knew Pepper Potts, so he knew she had already arrived or was just pulling up and they wanted to present a united front when she reached the Captain.

“We should probably leave Tony up here, we are going to argue and possibly fight and I don’t think we should expose that to him anymore then he has been already,” Bruce stated gently.

Rhodey nodded and laughed as he looked down at the child who had nestled his face into his neck. If he was correct in his hunch, Tony wouldn’t pose any trouble with that suggestion. The child had been much too quiet and as the soldier gently pulled the child back to look at him, he smiled in amusement at what he found. The little boy was fast asleep.

“That’s fine with me, I’ll just lay him down. If he awakes Jarvis, don’t keep him in here, he hates being trapped in one place,” Rhodey replied as he went to lay the child back down on the bed.

“Shall I alert you of his presence?” Jarvis asked curiously.

“I’ll leave that up to you, if it goes the way Pepper wants it to go the Captain will be chewing very heavily on his own guilt,” Rhodey replied as he carefully laid the sleeping child down on the bed. He nodded to Bruce and Clint and they all headed to the elevator, getting on it and riding it down to the common room floor.

They weren’t disappointed when Rhodey noticed that the Captain was waiting for them. He cocked his head to the side as the Black Widow appeared in the doorway of the room, her gaze firmly on Clint. 

“I don’t want this to come to a fight,” Steve told him quietly.

“I don’t care what you want at this point Captain,” Rhodey replied with a casual shrug.

“If you would just let me explain what I was trying to do, you’d see that this was all a miscommunication,” Steve pleaded gently.

“Like you explained to Tony? Oh but If I remember correctly you didn’t seem inclined to let him know, the owner of this tower if you remember; what you had planned,” Rhodey said tightly.

“You assumed that Tony would understand where you were coming from, but you know what they about assuming Captain,” Pepper said as he walked briskly into the room. “I don’t give a damn what you thought, I only care at this what you’re going to do and how you are going to fix this,” she said cuttingly, her eyes narrowed as she stared at Captain Rogers.

Steve flinched at both the tone and expression on Ms. Potts face. “Pepper I’m sorry I didn’t think. I just didn’t want Bucky locked up again,” he said quickly.

“You don’t get that right Captain; my name is Ms. Potts. You don’t get to hurt Tony and think there are no consequences for your actions. You don’t get to think that everything will be alright when it won’t. You put Barnes first, before your teammates, now I’m putting Tony first before you,” Pepper retorted calmly.

“And I’m letting you know that you have a week to find someplace, anywhere I don’t give a damn where, but you will no longer be living in Avengers Tower; formerly known as Stark Tower,” Rhodey interjected firmly.

“Where am I supposed to go? This is my team,” Steve said with a frown, he didn’t want them to be separated from each other. How would they present a united front if they weren’t all together?

“That’s not my problem, nor do I really care,” Pepper answered before Rhodey could. “I’m done allowing you to hurt Tony Stark, and unlike you think, he has people who care for him. Jarvis, see to it that Captain Rogers and his friends keep to their area while they are staying here,” she added.

Natasha cleared her throat then held up her hands. “Wait, I’m not in this,” she said softly. “I care for Tony just as well,”

“Oh? And yet you seemed to have sided with Steve on this Tasha,” Clint replied with a frown, his eyes narrowing in disbelief as he looked at her.

“I don’t want to choose sides; I do think that Bucky is would be better to keep his sanity here then at the base. You know how Shield is, they would trigger him with their poking and prodding,” she said softly.

“I do, but I also know how it feels when someone comes into your home and starts treating it like its theirs with no regard for you or your own space,” Clint said with a shake of his own head.

Natasha and Steve both winced at the archer’s words, knowing he definitely had a point in what he had been saying. The Captain frowned as he turned to look at his friend, who had an agonizing expression on his face. He hated putting Bucky in this position, he hated putting himself in this position and he hated most of all how he had hurt Tony. He swallowed the guilt down for a moment as he took a deep breath turning to face Pepper and Rhodes again.

“We’ll be out in a week then,” he promised them. He knew he had some money in the bank, enough for him and Bucky to live on. But he didn’t have the security of the tower but until he wasn’t at odds with the team that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. 

“Good, I’ll make sure of it. In the mean time I will be staying here with Tony in the Penthouse,” Rhodey replied curtly. 

“Of course,” Steve replied softly, knowing that the chances of him getting Tony alone to apologize was pretty slim now. He had really fucked up; he should have explained it to him. He did give a soft sigh of relief as he realized it hadn’t come to blows.

Pepper traded glances with Rhodey for a half of a second before she strode up to the Captain and slapped him hard, the sound echoing in the quiet room. 

Steve winced and flinched, his hand coming up to cup his face, as that had hurt! “What was that for?” He blurted out in bewilderment.

“That was for making Tony feel as if he was nothing. If you hurt him again I will chop off your balls up and feed them to you, and watch you as you choke on them, Captain,” Pepper said with a smile, though there was a definite hard edge to it as she looked at the American Icon.

Rhodey couldn’t stop the slight gasp that escaped him, nor could any other male in the room at that point. The Iron Patriot was so very proud of Pepper in that moment, though his eyes flickered over the Captain’s shoulder where the person whose presence had started this all. He noted with some amusement that Barnes seemed to be just as affected at Pepper’s words as the rest of them.

“Duly noted Ms. Potts,” Steve whispered out, slightly fearful of the woman in front of him. He held his breath at her expression as she gave a stiff nod before she finally turned away from to his relief.

“And if you touch one hair on Tony’s head, you will be put in a place where not even the Captain will be able to save you. I know what you did, and I know while it wasn’t you yourself you are just as responsible for it. You do not start anything with Tony, you leave that little boy alone. You are doing more than enough harm by being here as it is,” Pepper said as she turned to address Barnes.

Bucky swallowed back the bile, knowing she was right. He hadn’t been in control then but if he had of fought harder, would anything have changed? He narrowed his eyes for a moment before he really looked at her, he knew she would protect that little boy with every fiber of her being. And at the moment, he wasn’t in the mood for anymore killing.  
He just wanted to be alone and try to remember the person he used to be. 

He gave her a curt nod before he turned back to looking at the table. Even without any obvious powers, Pepper Potts was a woman not to be trifled with. Bucky gave a slight smirk closing his eyes as the memories of another dame with the kind of spirit just like her suddenly came forward.

Satisfied that everyone seemed to be a little bit better, the tension was still there but not just as thick. But Pepper didn’t want it to turn into a fight, they were friends just currently at an impasse right now. She didn’t want them having any regrets if one of them got hurt.

“I’m going to go now, but I’ll be back. In the meantime, as he said Rhodey will be living at the tower until the foreseeable future, or until the Captain and his friends leave,” Pepper said bluntly.

Steve swallowed thickly, not wanting to do that but knowing he had no choice. This was his first real home in a long time but he had no choice but to give it up now. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow Pepper and let you know if anything changed overnight,” Rhodey promised her.

“Okay, I’ll be by tomorrow to spend some time with Tony,” she promised before she turned and left.

When Pepper left, no one moved, not wanting to make the first move or just generally in their thoughts. Rhodey wasn’t going to stand here all night and turned to Bruce to ask him something.

“Where’s Tony?” Steve asked quietly, as he finally realized that they hadn’t brought the child down here with them.

“Sleeping like he should be,” Clint replied with an obvious expression on his face. “It’s late if you haven’t realized it Rogers,”

Steve grimaced at his last name, he had thought they were all passed that but apparently it was back to it. “I’d forgotten it,” he murmured.

“Well we haven’t,” Clint said with a yawn. “And that note, I’m heading to bed,” he said as he turned to his two companions.

“I’ll sleep in the Penthouse with Tony, if you want to come up just ask Jarvis and he’ll let you and Bruce through,” Rhodey replied softly.

“That’s great, I’ll see you both in the morning. Hopefully attitudes will have cleared and Tony won’t be that afraid anymore,” Bruce said ever the optimist.

Rhodey grinned at the doctor before he gave a shrug. “You know what they say, hope for the best but prep for the worst,” he murmured.

“If I’m correct, the worst is already past us,” Clint replied slowly.

“I hope you’re right Clint, I can’t take any more of this us vs them,” Bruce replied softly.

Steve watched them head to the elevator, hoping that this week he would get a chance to speak with Tony. He needed to apologize to him and then beg for his forgiveness. He hoped that he would be able to change the child’s mind, as he had no desire to leave his teammates. He didn’t want to admit it, but he too had started to think of them as his family. And he knew that he couldn’t afford to lose any more family members, he didn’t think he could survive if it was just Bucky and him against the world.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, it was also split into too because uploading to the site I had to space it and 10,000+ words are crazy, so this was split into too. I had alot of motivation to get ithis chapter down, and I'm going to remember it for future chapters and stories. Hope yall like it. If I can get maybe 10 reviews today, I'll post the other part of the chapter tomorrow. I swear it!

When Tony woke up the next morning, he groaned softly as he rubbed his little fists to get the crust and gunk out of his eyes. Now that it was daylight he was feeling a tab bit embarrassed on how childish he had been the night before. He shook his head before he scoffed to himself, his body was of a young child and he was allowed to act any way his emotions wanted. 

He knew no one else was aware that he still had his adult mind at times, and so he wasn’t required to act like his normal self. He was in the body and mind of a little boy and sometimes his emotions did what they wanted to do. 

He knew that he never had this the first time around and he was loving that he had people who were willing to fight for him. People who actually wanted him around, who wanted to play with him. Speaking of which, he was could see that he was currently lying on someone’s torso area and judging from the bulk of it he knew it couldn’t be anyone but Rhodey.

He grinned at the man shyly not all shocked to see the man was awake and quietly watching him. Tony sighed happily, easily pushing his adult mindset in the back and allowing the child one to come forth. 

“You stayed!” The tiny tot squealed out happily when it became apparent that the soldier wasn’t planning on saying anything first.

“I promised you last night that I would stay until everything was sorted. This is your house Tony and you deserve to comfortable inside of it,” Rhodey replied truthfully as he carefully sat up. He didn’t want to dislodge the child currently laying on him.

Tony giggled happily at that as he carefully scooted off the man. “Can we haff bweakfast together?” He asked hopefully.

“In the Tower or outside the tower?” Rhodey asked curiously.

“In da Tower, Bwuce cooks weally good bweakfast,” Tony said honestly.

“I bet he does, let’s go see if he’s awake and has some ready,” Rhodey replied knowing JARVIS would alert the Doctor and Archer that they were planning on coming down. Because he knew like they did, that in the Penthouse, Tony didn’t really have food up here since he preferred to eat downstairs in the common kitchen with his teammates. 

Tony nodded happily as he jumped off of the bed before he reached up for the man to pick him up. He had realized that adults got to places faster than his little legs did and he knew being picked up was also fun, and he wanted to enjoy as much as he could in what little time he had to be this age.

“Spoiled thing,” Rhodey chuckled out even as he bent down to pick up the tiny tot and headed towards the elevator.

“What we gonna do today?” Tony wanted to know.

“I’m not totally sure, maybe hang out in the tower, and see what we can find to do here. If we can’t find anything to do, I’ll easily take you out,” he promised the child, he wanted him to know that he would not be confined anywhere he didn’t want to be.

“What about da Captain and his fwiend?” Tony asked softly, not wanting to breach the topic but knowing he needed to know where everything stood after last night.

“Well Hopefully they’ll find a place soon, but regardless they will never be alone with you Tony. And they will never hurt you again, I promise you this buddy,” Rhodey replied firmly.

“Otay,” Tony chirped out, his eyes seeking out Bruce or Clint’s the minute they exited the elevator on the common floor. 

The little boy could smell some cinnamon yummy goodness and he didn’t know what it was, only that he really, really wanted to taste. Glancing around the kitchen, Tony didn’t see Steve or the Winter Soldier anywhere and he finally allowed himself to relax. He wiggled in the man’s arms, knowing Rhodey would get the silent question and he was rewarded when he was placed on his feet.

“Where are you going to sit Tony?” Clint asked curiously as he set up the child sized utensils and plates and cups that Pepper had gotten for him.

“I don’t know, but if I wanna eat bweakfast wiff aww of you,” he said pointing out at each of the men.

“That is possible,” he said easily, as he gestured to Rhodey to grab some dishes for themselves to set the table.

“And I want juice wiff my bweakfast,” Tony demanded out seriously.

“How do we ask Tony?” Bruce asked, his eyes still on the stove and his pan.

“Pwease can I haff juice wiff bweakfast?” He replied without missing a beat.

“Yes you may,” the Doctor replied with a sly smirk. This was the only time when he could actually hear Tony Stark say please and thank you and mean it. And it was utterly adorable when the tiny tot said it as well.

Tony squealed happily and moved to climb up into a chair when he felt that uncomfortable pressure building in his tummy. He knew what it was and he didn’t want anything to disturb his breakfast time with his friends. He knew what he needed to do.

“I be wight back, I’m going potty,” Tony told them because he knew if he didn’t state where he was going they would question him and possibly follow him.  
Which he didn’t mind but he just wanted to eat breakfast and that would delay it. Giggling to himself, he skipped his way out of the kitchen and towards the bathroom on the common room floor just off of the movie room. 

He was so focused on his little mission that he didn’t notice that someone else had noticed him. Seeing the bathroom at the end of the hall, he smiled brightly only to suddenly freeze when the person stepped into the hall, blocking the toilet door from view.

~*~Line a breaking*~*~*~

Steve had been ecstatic when he had stepped out of the elevator and had seen the small brown haired child skipping down the hallway. He could wager that the boy was probably going to visit the toilet and he was surprised that Rhodey had left him alone like that.

He knew logically that Tony wasn’t alone that Jarvis was watching which meant he also had to make this quick. If the little boy in front of him felt afraid the others in the kitchen would know and he would never get to talk to his teammate. He felt awful, lower than low when he thought about but what he had done to the child. 

“Tony, buddy can we talk?” Steve asked carefully.

Tony’s eyes widened at the man’s words, his adult mindset coming forth in an instant. He needed to be smart about this, people did crazy things when they felt that they had no way out. Just what did the Captain think he was doing anyway. “Tawk about what?” He asked softly.

“About why I brought Bucky here. He’s my best friend, he’s always been there for me and I need to be there for him. If I didn’t take him with me, Shield or Hydra would have gotten him and chances are we would be dead or even more brainwashed,” Steve replied quickly just trying to get it all out of there and allow the child to try to see it from his point of view.

“What about me though? I know what he did, to daddy. To mommy, why bwing him where I am? Don’t you cawe about me wike you said?” He asked plainly. 

“Of course I care about you kiddo, I love you. I just, Bucky needed me to be there for him. Can’t you understand that Tony? I needed him as well,” Steve stressed out seriously. 

Tony could admit that the man had a bit of a point, and he felt for Steve he honestly did. Here was someone who had lived and known Steve way back when, it was a piece of his past and he wanted to hold onto to that. As much as Tony could sympathize with the Captain, it didn’t change the fact that Steve had just ignored him and brought the person who killed his parents in his tower without even a by your leave. 

Who does that? Did Steve really think that low of him? He wasn’t ready to forgive the good Captain just yet, and he didn’t know if he ever would. He knew logically that Bucky hadn’t been himself when he had killed his parents but that didn’t change the fact of Steve’s part in all of this. The man had discarded him as he was mere trash. 

As if he wasn’t worth anything, and this was in his child form. Is this really what the man honestly thought of him? He gasped softly, feeling the panic set in, Steve was just another one of those people who used people and discarded then once they had no more use to them. 

The little boy started breathing heavily, his emotions getting the better of him, just wanting to be away from the man. Before he could even ask Jarvis to summon one of grown-ups on his side, someone else spoke that had his heart beating even more frantically in his chest. 

“Steve, back off of the kid and give him some space. Can’t you see we’re scaring him and he’s panicking because of that,” Bucky said firmly from where he was standing on the corner of the hallway. 

He didn’t go any closer not wanting the child to fully freak out. He had heard their conversations and he had watched the video of himself killing Stark’s parents. He didn’t know how the man was currently a child but he knew a frightened one when he saw it and the boy was terrified. It was clear that the man didn’t have his memories of his adult self, and that the child in front of him was nothing more than just a baby. 

Tony gulped out when he heard Bucky defending him. What had happened to the world? In a moment of childishness and he would later blame it on the child mindset of his, Tony found himself speaking to the Winter Soldier himself.

“You don’t scawe me, only Stebe does,” Tony said seriously.

It was clear the statement threw both of the men for a loop, and Tony found himself unable to look at the kicked puppy look that Steve was now sporting from his words. Instead he focused his gaze on the Soldier’s whose expression for the first time was showing clear confusion, which was a lot better than the blank one he usually had. 

“Why does Steve scare you and not me?” Bucky asked unable to keep the question inside. He didn’t understand this child, nothing he did made sense at all. This was very unusual for him to experience but he welcomed it, anything was better than all of that killing he was started to dwell on. 

Tony sighed softly as he truly thought about that question. He knew that Bucky hadn’t been in control of his facilities when it was all said and done, but Steve had. Why had the man hid it from him? Why hadn’t he discussed it with the team? Why had he lied so? Seeing that the man was actually waiting patiently for an answer, he swallowed thickly and made to answer.

“Stebe has aww da power, and he does anyfing he wants and doesn’t cawe who he huwts in da pwocess. Only he can be wight and no one else can, he’s just wike daddy, and I hate him for dat,” Tony spat out, surprised actually at how hurt and angry his words had been. Now that he had said them, he did feel a bit lighter than he had before. 

“What about me? You don’t think that of me? I…. I killed…your parents. And I am so sorry about that,” Bucky struggled to get all of that out without breaking down, but somehow he managed it. It had been hard to say and he had felt the shame rushing through him at it.

“But you weren’t in your wight mind. You couldn’t contwol your actions; you were under brain contwol. I fowgive you Bucky, but dere is nuffin to weally fowgive. I know dat if dey hadn’t of made you do dat, you wouwdn’t haff,” Tony said softly, tears burning in his eyes as he said it, but he meant it. 

The man was not to blame, Hydra was. It would be so easy to just blame Bucky but looking at his eyes now, he could see the horror in those eyes and remorse and the memories were punishing him even now. He would have to see if he could do something about that once he got older. Bucky didn’t deserve any of this. 

Steve swallowed thickly, hearing the passionate words coming from the child, a rush of shame hitting him so hard, he stumbled back and hit the wall. He ignored the twin gazes now focused on him in favor of turning and quickly running towards the steps. He needed to clear his head, and going for a run would be the best way to do that. He ran out of the doors and didn’t look back, not even realizing that he didn’t have any shoes on.

Bucky watched with dark eyes as Steve bolted, turning to look back down at the child apologetically. “Steve has always been a bit more stubborn than most; its why I think the serum really took for him. He’ll be okay, he just needs to clear his head. You’ll see, he’ll see things your way. I never would have come here had I known that you weren’t alright with any of this. He told it me it was safe place for me, but he wasn’t being truthful with either of us,” Bucky said in a moment of clarity. He didn’t feel the least bit safe here, he was constantly on his guard, even when he was sleeping. And the child in front of him was terrified of the situation, so like he said it wasn’t safe for either of them. 

“Will he come back do you fink?” Tony asked softly.

“He will, he thinks of this place as home, and I know how much having a home means to him,” Bucky replied before he frowned. “We’ve taken up too much of your time, your minders are getting worried,” he said before he moved to disappear again. He knew that if he were to still be here when one of the other men came, it would be bad all around.

“Wait, can we tawk again, I wike you,” Tony said shyly.

Bucky had to grin then before he gave a quick nod. “I suppose so, see you around Tony,” he said before turning around the corner and disappearing from sight. 

Which turned out to be a good thing as Clint suddenly appeared a moment later, looking at the little boy in confusion as he saw him standing in the hall.

“What are you doing Tony?” He asked cautiously. “I thought you needed the bathroom?”

“I do, but my stwings awe tiwed up tight. I didn’t want to go in dewe and maybe haff an askident because I couldn’t get my pants down in time and the potty makes me haff to go worse,” the little boy lied easily.

Clint wasn’t sure if he believed him and gestured to the child’s pajama pants. “Let me see the knot,” he requested, knowing this was the moment of truth.

Tony easily showed the man the knot, though that was only a recent development. When he had been talking with Steve, his hands had needed something to do and so he had unintentionally knotted it up quite a bit. He gave an urgent squirm as he was aware of his bladder yet again. He was thankful that he was able to clear the air a bit, but why couldn’t Steve wait until after he had used the toilet.

“Can you get it out?” He asked anxiously as he two stepped in place.

“No, come on we need to head to the kitchen to get the scissors,” Clint said as he picked up the child and hurried back into the kitchen.

“There you are Tony, we were beginning to think you fell in,” Rhodey joked when he saw that the child was unarmed.

“He didn’t get a chance to go yet, he couldn’t undo the knot in his pants,” Clint explained as he set the child on the floor and headed to the drawer to get the scissors.

Tony danced around in place, the running water at the sink nearly doing him in before Bruce finally turned the water off.

“You should have called for help Tony,” Rhodey said seriously, knowing Tony hated having to admit a weakness.

“I fought I could do it,” he said with a frown as he held himself. 

“Clint, just get some scissors, he’s 4 remember? He cannot hold it that long,” Bruce said as he caught sight of the boy.

“I know that, doesn’t anyone ever put anything back in this place,” Clint ranted as he opened up another drawer to try to locate the elusive scissors.

Bruce shook his head before he hurried over to the boy, who was all but turning into a pretzel. “Let me see those,” he murmured taking the string between both his hands and giving it a firm tug. He noted that it broke easily under his hands as if it had been made of paper before he quickly picked up the desperate child with ease. “We will be back, mind the stove Clint,” he called back over his shoulder as he hurried to the bathroom.

Tony was surprised that Bruce had actually picked him up, it was like the man was so afraid of Hulking out he just never gave him the chance. This was his first actual time being carried by the man and he couldn’t even fully enjoy it. He grinned widely as he was set on the toilet, relief flooding through his body as he observed the man who was gazing at the ceiling. 

“I awe finish Bwuce,” Tony said as he reached for the man.

Bruce nodded before he grabbed the child and after righting his clothes, he moved to set the child down on his feet.

“No, I wanna be cawwied, pwease,” Tony said quickly, before the man could put him down.

“It’s not safe Tony,” Bruce replied still bending over in hopes that the boy would let go. 

“Yes it is, you just did it. I didn’t feel scawed at aww,” Tony said truthfully as he clung to the man.

“That was different, that could qualify as an emergency,” Bruce pointed out as he tried to put the boy down again. 

“Pwease Bwuce,” the tiny tot begged out sadly.

Bruce gave in then at the sad sound and adjusted the child on his hip. He turned to look at the child to find the boy’s expression was one of contentment. It gave the man a moment of pause as he helped the boy wash his hands. He carried the child back into the kitchen and set him on his chair, his plate appearing in front of Tony a moment later. Bruce took a seat at his own place and started eating, enjoying his time with his friends. 

~*~*Line a breaking~*~*~*~

When Steve came back to the tower a few hours later, he was sweaty and grimy but his mind was clear. He had been abashed to realized how he had acted, and what he had done. Before he had found Bucky, he had thought he was making progress in regards to Tony. The little boy had trusted him in a way that the adult Tony never had, or ever will. How could he be so stupid and mess that up? 

He didn’t even know if the little boy would ever forgive him? This wasn’t even his house, this was technically Stark Tower or Avengers Tower, which means he should have discussed this with his teammates. He scoffed to himself, feeling like a shit sandwich. Swallowing thickly to himself he headed in the direction of the voices that he heard. He was disappointed to find that it was a movie being played but no one was there watching it. 

“Jarvis, where is everybody?” Steve asked quietly as he looked at the ceiling.

“Mr. Barnes is currently in your quarters, Miss Romanov is in the training room and young sir and his companions are at the pool,” Jarvis replied in his crisp tone.

“Is the pool open to me still?” Steve asked carefully.

“Yes, you don’t have any restricted access as of yet, except for the penthouse and young sir’s labs. What is it you wish to do Captain?” Jarvis asked carefully, wondering if he needed to warn the others. He had been listening earlier when the child had been ambushed in the hallway. He knew that his creator was stubborn and so was the Captain and he hoped that something good had come out of the conversation for the both of them.

“I owe him so much, at the moment I wish to apologize for my behavior,” Steve said contritely.

“That is a very good start Captain, I know young sir misses you. And no one is fond of the discord in the team at the moment,” Jarvis responded.

“Thank you Jarvis,” Steve answered before he turned and headed to the elevator, to head to the level with the pool. 

It still amazed him how much money that Tony actually had, who really needed a pool in a tower of all places. But he agreed this was much easier if they wanted to swim, without worrying about the masses of people and photographers who didn’t leave them alone. Tony had good ideas sometimes, even if it seemed like it was just a waste of resources. Walking out of the elevator, he let himself into the entrance to the pool room before he could lose his nerve or before he was spotted and they locked the door. 

Steve silently headed towards the group, he could hear childish laughter, and his heart swelled at the sound. He missed Tony so much, and hopefully they would be able to repair this friendship that they had. He faltered in his steps when he saw Clint’s eyes narrow as he took him in. 

He continued his trek to where they were, watching as Tony was tossed into the air by Rhodey and caught by Bruce of all people in the water. This is what he had also meant, the child was changing so much about this without even realizing it.

“Is there something we can help you with Rogers?” Clint asked tightly when the man had come just a bit too close them, then he would have liked.

Steve stopped then, his eyes flickering to Tony who was looking at him in confusion, before he turned back up to Clint. He hated that the man was referring to him with his last name, he knew they were all passed that mostly, and hated it. 

“I wanted to apologize to Tony,” Steve said quietly, when it became apparent that they were all waiting for him to speak first. 

“Apologize for what?” Rhodey asked as he carefully stepped out the pool, leaving Tony in Bruce’s arms for the time being.

“For not listening to him, for disregarding him. I let my emotions get the better of me, and I hurt Tony in the process. I was so very wrong for that; I should have spoken with the team. There had to be better suggestions, but I didn’t listen to any of them. I am so sorry kiddo, I never meant to make you feel like you were anything less then what you are. You mean so much to me, I just forgot all my common sense when Bucky appeared. And that was so wrong of me,” Steve said emotionally, he had remembered the man had given him a home.

Tony gasped softly at the apology, he could feel his stupid kid emotion’s tearing up his eyes but he refused to cry. It felt good to hear, it felt good for the man to acknowledge it, and he gave a childish smile. 

“Otay, ‘pology accepted,” he chirped out before he turned back to Bruce for more playing. It was so much harder to stay mad at anything in this body, so he was actually feeling a bit lighter now that the man had apologized.

Steve managed a smile at that, thanking everything that child Tony didn’t seem to actually want to hold grudges and was he was grateful for small mercies. However, he noticed just because the child himself forgave him, he still had to deal with Clint and Rhodey, he knew Bruce was all for not fighting so as long as Tony was fine the doctor would be too. 

“Be that as it may Captain, you and your friend still aren’t staying here,” Rhodey replied seriously after a moment had gone by. 

“Tony doesn’t have a problem with Bucky,” Steve pointed out quietly.

“How do you know? When’s the last time you talk to him?” Clint bit out, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out if there was a hidden plot in all of this.

“What’s that matter? Tony told me himself if you must know. He’s angry with me not Bucky,” Steve said with a sigh. 

“Clearly we all need to sit down and have a discussion about this, and where we go from her. Because the other night, Tony was hysterical and now you’re telling me, he’s okay with the Winter Soldier being here in his house?” Rhodey said skeptically, knowing that made no sense whatsoever.

“I said he’s alright with Bucky Barnes, not who he was, which was the Winter Soldier,” Steve stressed out.

“You can still trigger the Winter Soldier, he’s not cleared for anything because of that. Bucky and the Soldier are the same people at the moment,” Clint pointed out.

“No they aren’t,” Steve bit out in annoyance.

Rhodey opened his mouth to retort only to freeze at the alarm, that suddenly resounded around them and the tower and he winced at the scream that emitted from Tony behind him.

“Jarvis turn it off!” Clint called out, breathing a sigh of relief when the alarm faded out a second later.

“I hate dat!” Tony screamed out, his little ears feeling like they were ringing. He had forgotten how sensitive they were at this age, and it hurt too. He glanced up at wide eyes as he clung to Bruce remembering last time.

“Shit,” Rhodey said with a frown before gesturing to Bruce to get out of the pool.

“Dammit, what are we going to do? That was the call to assemble, we can’t leave at a time like this,” Clint said with a loud sigh.

“We don’t have a choice, we have our orders to protect and serve,” Steve replied tightly.

“Tony has to stay here, not in the pool area because that’s dangerous. But he can’t sneak away like last time,” Bruce informed them, as he reached forward and grabbed the child’s clothes with his free hand.

“That still leaves us like last time, with Thor gone and Tony out, we are yet again down two teammates,” Clint reasoned.

“Maybe we won’t need the extra numbers anyway, we didn’t last time,” Steve pointed out thoughtfully.

“Well, if you guys end up needing an extra person, I can fight with you. But only as a last resort,” Rhodey said reluctantly.

“Maybe not as a last resort, we don’t know what’s going on. The situation could be dire, and we might need you,” Clint answered honestly. 

“It has to be Clint, because contrary to belief I haven’t forgotten the tension in this tower. Barnes is still here, if we all leave to fight, that leaves Tony unprotected and there is no way in hell I will ever allow that to happen,” Rhodey said dangerously. He would not fail when it came to protecting Tony and making sure he was safe. He knew Pepper would kill him.

Clint paled as he remembered that, his heart stuttering his own chest as he remembered the threat that was inside of the tower thanks to their esteemed Captain. 

“Bucky won’t hurt Tony,” Steve protested at the man’s word.

“Say’s you, but if he’s triggered, he won’t know Tony from an enemy. I’m not going to risk his life, on your words,” Rhodey said angrily that the man would think otherwise. “If you want me to help you guys in your fight, figure out where Barnes will be during all of this. We know he isn’t cleared to fight with us,” he said as he turned to dry off the child.

Tony shivered from the cold, not really paying attention to their words. He was feeling warm on the inside, he had hated holding that grudge again Captain America. But since the man apologized he was hoping that Steve would get to cuddle him again.

He loved all sorts of affection from each of his team members, and each one gave cuddles differently. And when Steve hugged him, he hugged him tightly, almost as if he was afraid that Tony would push him away. Which was stupid because the little boy was touched starved and he craved that, so much more in this form. 

Steve sighed, seeing that War Machine wouldn’t be moved he nodded to himself, wondering what he should do. “Maybe Bucky could fight with us; I don’t know where he could go. S.H.E.I.L.D. isn’t known to be very accepting of one if they are different. They still don’t treat Clint the way that they should and being under control of Loki wasn’t in anyway his fault,” he said choosing to think out loud, in hopes that one of the other men would get an idea.

Clint winced when his situation was brought up, not wanting to admit that the man had a point. This was why he was never really at S.H.E.I.L.D. anymore, why spend time at a place that was still wary of you? Regardless of the things that he had done for the company.

“Let’s just head down to the common area and bounce a few ideas off of each other. We can find out how bad it is downtown and figure out what we need to do then,” Clint said quietly, knowing that Natasha would be down there. He had missed his partner quite a lot and after being reminded of his time under mind control, he could use a bit of her support. He knew she would be happy that everything was mostly back okay with the team. 

With Tony still bundled up in his towel the group made their way to the elevator and towards the common room. Once there Rhodey looked around to note that the Black Widow was there, but Bucky wasn’t which was a small grace as he didn’t think he would be comfortable with that intense gaze on them. 

As much as he was the Winter Soldier, he was also Bucky Barnes as Tony was quick to remind him. He needed to let the hurt and the fault fall away for now. Maybe when Tones was aged up the feelings would change but for now, he needed to put the blame where it was due and not let his anger at the situation cloud his judgment. He adjusted the child in his arms before he diverted his attention back to the group.

“Did we decide what we can do?” Rhodey asked curiously.

“Decide about what?” Natasha asked carefully as she made her way toward the group.

“We’ve been called to assemble as you know and we are unsure of what we are going to do with Tony. He knows now not to come with us, or sneak away, however there is still the issue of Barnes being in the Tower with him. We are untrusting of the man as you well know and cannot in good conscience leave Tony here with him, without one of us here as well. And we would be down three teammates then, even with the War Machine helping us,” Bruce said carefully. He could feel eyes on the back of his neck, and the Hulk was literally behind his skin and he didn’t like it. He knew that the Winter Soldier was clearly listening in.

Natasha nodded, her eyes narrowing as she glanced just passed Bruce’s head to where the common room veered off towards a corner. She too felt the gaze and she had actually talked with him. She remembered exactly who she was and he had been truly surprised to see that she was accepted on this team, and they had talked for quite some time. She wasn’t going to expose him, because she knew how James Barnes could be. 

“Well, if Jarvis initiates lockdown mode for Steve’s rooms, Barnes would be confined to those areas without feeling like he was locked in a prison,” she stated carefully.

Surprisingly it was Rhodey who nodded in agreement first at her suggestion. “Yes, that will work. With the arsenal that Jarvis has, he would be able to keep the Winter Soldier at bay if something triggered him. He would be able to hold him off and protect Tony at the same time until we came back to subdue him if need be,” Rhodey replied quietly even as he tugged the child in his arms closer to him. It wasn’t an ideal situation by any means, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. 

Steve was mostly okay with that plan he just didn’t like how Jarvis could react if he felt that the man was getting triggered, especially what he observed since yesterday morning. He wasn’t sure how they would take it so he wouldn’t be divulging why that was but he could enlighten them to it. 

“Bucky has been more at peace these last few days, I don’t think that he will be triggered,” Steve said nonchalantly as if was no big deal. He knew it was and he was grateful that Tony had been able to help him when even Steve couldn’t. 

“Again Captain, you’ll have to excuse me, I don’t trust your judgment. And so we will stick with Natasha’s plan,” Rhodey said quietly before he turned to look at the dozing child in his arms. However, he knew better, he knew this kid, and what he was capable of. He would never ever, underestimate Tony Stark. 

“I know you heard us kiddo, you are not to go looking for trouble. Do not go and try to get onto Steve’s floor. Leave Barnes alone, yeah?” Rhodey said bluntly.

Tony looked up at the man in shock and wasn’t sure whether he was hurt or surprise or disbelief he was feeling. “Whodey, I wouwdn’t do dat!” He said clearly appalled at the whole thing. 

Clint chuckled at the affronted reaction on the child’s face. “You really would kiddo, we know you. You just wouldn’t be able to help yourself,” he said with a shake of his head.

Tony pouted refusing to acknowledge Clint. “I won’t do dat Whodey, I pwomise,” he said seriously.

“You’d better not, as I will have Jarvis monitoring you and he will alert me if you feel some kind of inclination towards that,” Rhodey told him seriously.

“Otay,” Tony said unhappily, that they clearly didn’t trust him. He turned back into the man’s chest to go back to his nap, not wanting to think on it any longer. 

Rhodey shook his head, and he sat down to get the child dressed, thankful that Bruce had thoughtfully brought the boy’s clothes down with them. He quietly got the child dressed as the screen with Director Fury appeared and they could hear what was going on downtown. 

~&~&~Breaking the line~&~&~&

On the other side of the common room, where the room veered off into a corner Bucky silently made his retreat back to Steve’s rooms. He took the steps stealthily, not wanting to get caught out in the elevator. He was also in the mindset of James Rhodes, who believed that Tony would deviate from the agreement and seek him out. 

He didn’t want to hurt the child, especially since the boy had forgiven him in his part in his parent’s murder. Bucky let himself into Steve’s rooms and made his way to the spare bedroom that he had been staying. 

“Jarvis, please initiate the lockdown that they agreed on. I don’t want Tony to be in danger of me,” Bucky stated quietly.

“I’ve been monitoring your condition since you stepped into my tower and as the Captain has stated, you are the furthest thing from that. I will do as you and they agree, but note that young sir has the power to veto anything at any time. I obey my creator and only my creator,” the A.I, said basically warning the man that the tiny boy could overrule anyone if he so chose too. He wanted the man to be aware of that and act accordingly.

“It won’t come down to that, Tony promised,” Bucky said with a shake of his head. He didn’t know the child but from what he had met, the boy had been a breath of honest, fresh air.

J.A.R.V.I.S. stayed silent, because he knew that Tony would do just that. They always underestimated his creator, but people like James Rhodes and Pepper Potts knew much better. They knew what to expect from the anomaly that one would call Tony Stark. For the moment J.A.R.V.I.S. allowed the man to keep his ignorance, knowing it wouldn’t last for long. So he quieted, and for the time being he would let the man think otherwise.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those who reviewed, hoping I keep my motivation. Hope yall enjoy this. I love JARVIS

~&~&~Common Floor~*~*~

Tony watched with his face pressed against the giant windows on the floor, as his teammates and Rhodey, left the tower via the Helicarrier. He watched it go by wistfully, wishing he could go but smiling softly to himself that he would be able to be entertained. Now that he was alone, he allowed his adult mindset to come forth and gave a chuckle of amusement as he replayed the end of the previous conversation.

Leave it to good old Rhodey to know him much better than anyone else. Speaking of which, he turned back to look at the window to make sure they weren’t coming back in case they forgot something.

“Jarvis, I want you to disable all of the other commands the others gave you. I don’t want you to alert them of anything that is currently or will be going on in the tower. I have something I need to do, and it involves Bucky,” Tony said quietly. It took quite a lot for him to speak without the lisp he had, it was quite tiring. However, he didn’t want to take any chances with this command at the moment. 

“I know sir; I will keep track of the Avengers progress. If they start to come home earlier than planned, I will keep you updated on that and warn you when need be,” the A.I. promised.

“Good, fank you Jawvis,” Tony said with a happy sigh as he glanced out at the empty sky. “What is Bucky up too now?”

“Mister Barnes is also looking out the window, are you going up now?” Jarvis asked curiously.

“Yes I just want to bwing my twains,” Tony said happily as he went and grabbed his aforementioned toys before he headed to the elevator. Pressing the button for Steve’s floor he stood in the elevator patiently, giggling every now and again to himself. He took a step out of the elevator and headed towards the man’s rooms. “Is it open Jawvis?”

“Yes sir, Lockdown is shut down and cancelled,” Jarvis intoned.

“Good,” Tony chirped out before he twisted the handle of the door and let himself inside of the man’s rooms. “Bucky? Whewe awe you?” He called out curiously as he walked further into the flat and looked around.

Bucky for his part had been floored when he had heard the locks opening, he had wondered if someone was breaking in or if the A.I. had a breakdown. He had felt actual terror for a moment as he realized that Tony would be downstairs alone without anyone to protect him. He calmed himself down quickly enough when he heard the child’s voice as casual as it could be. He slowly came from his hiding place behind the door to look at the child incredulously. 

“Anthony Stark, just what on earth are you doing up here?” Bucky asked in an appalled tone. He had to fight to keep a straight face as he realized both he and Rhodes had been of the same frame of mind. Both James had been right about this little boy trying something. Though he hadn’t thought the child would outright lie about it.

Tony wasn’t one to be deterred at all and simply gave the man a wide grin. “I came to pway wiff you, I bought my twains wiff me too,” he said holding out two trains in his hands. His track was set up downstairs so he was hoping he might be able to persuade the man to come down with it. It should be a piece of cake because no one else was currently here at the moment, and they weren’t due back for quite some time. 

“Tony, I need you to listen to me bug. It’s not safe for you to be up here with me. I don’t want to hurt you. What happens if I trigger and you’re close by?” Bucky said in a serious tone trying to get the boy to see reason.

“Jarvis bewieves dat you have a twigger word, and dat it’s either in Gewman or Wussian or a mixture of both. I, while fwuent in both don’t know all of the wowds in it, so Jawvis finks that dere is no way dat I can twigger you. Especially ‘cause I will only speak in Engwish. We will be okay, I pwomise,” he assured the man seriously.  
“You promised Rhodes you wouldn’t seek me out,” Bucky pointed out bluntly.

“Yes but I cwossed my fingers when I did it, I’m not doing dat now,” the little boy replied cheekily as he held up both his palms so the man could see for himself. 

Bucky couldn’t help it when his face broke out into a grin at the child’s cheeky explanation. The boy had a such a smart mouth, it was almost like he was talking to a kid version of Steve. “Alright then, I suppose we can play,” he decided lightly. He knew at this point he didn’t really have a choice, the boy had sought him out after all.

“Gweat!” Tony chirped out quickly reaching forward to hug the man around the legs before he held up his trains.

“What?” Bucky asked in confusion as he looked down at the child.

“Pick a twain pwease,” Tony elaborated happily.

Bucky looked from both the red and gold steam train and the black and silver one. He knew the child would one day be the Iron Man as Steve kept pointing out. And he was pretty sure that red was probably the child’s favorite color, he mentally reasoned out. “I’ll take this one,” he said as he grabbed the black one. He didn’t notice which hand he had grabbed it with, just intent on pleasing the child.

Tony however did, and as Bucky went and grabbed the black train, the little boy gave a loud gasp of happiness. For once both of his mindsets were on the same page. He looked at the man’s silver arm with awe and glee and his fingers twitched with the urge to just touch it and see how it felt. “Oh wow,” he breathed out reverently.

Bucky glanced at the child in confusion, unsure of what the hell was going on. “What is it Tony?”

“Your awm,” Tony answered out softly. There were no other words for him to explain the glee he was currently feeling at looking at such a specimen.

Bucky gritted his teeth at the child’s words, wanting to quickly yank the offending limb back. He was sure he had probably terrified the child with it, he hated it himself. It had done some truly horrific things. He lost himself for a moment in his memories which is why he found himself startled again when he heard the child’s voice yet again.

“Can I touch it pwease? I’ll be so caweful wiff it,” Tony begged out eagerly.

Bucky wasn’t totally sure what possessed him to say yes, but he gave the child a smile and gestured over to the bed so they could sit down. He would rather sit with his arm resting on his lap, just in case he got a reflex. He didn’t want to accidentally hit the child with it, he could severely hurt the boy or worse.

“Yes but let’s go sit down,” Bucky said as he led the way to the bed and took a seat. He bent down with his free hand to pick the child up and set him up on the bed.  
Tony looked at the man in awe as he was picked up. “You awe stwong,” he said happily before he climbed over into the man’s lap. 

The little boy placed the silver arm around his lap and gently ran his hands over the arm. The adult mindset had resurfaced and he was quickly taking it all in, just in case the man took it away. 

He noted every crack, and bolt and every squeak. He was already thinking of ways that he could make it better for the man, and less painful. He knew prosthetics hurt, and even when you got used to them, they still hurt. He didn’t want Bucky to be in pain if he didn’t have too. Tony was very thorough with his ministrations, even forgetting just who was inspecting. 

But the man never wavered, he never shuddered. He allowed all of this, and that warmed up Tony more than the man could ever know. Once he was completely finished mentally cataloging what he needed to do, he turned to look up at the man’s face who was looking down at him in obvious amusement. “Fank you,” Tony whispered out softly as he held the arm between his two hands and relaxed his back against the man’s torso.

“No Tony, thank you,” Bucky said in the same soft tone. The child didn’t even know what he had done; he didn’t understand the significance of his behavior, but Bucky did. And he loved him for it. This little thing could let go of all of the stereotypes, even knowing the role that Bucky played and he still managed to forgive him. They didn’t deserve Tony Stark, but he was thankful to whoever was up there, that they had him. 

Tony smiled softly, he allowed his child mindset to fully come forth. His adult mindset was in the same frame of mind that Steve had, Bucky wasn’t going to hurt him at all. He might have just gained another protector. 

~&~&~Breaking a Line&~&~&~

It was a half hour later when Tony moved from his cuddle position on Bucky’s lap, it was really an ideal place to be but his little mind was getting a bit bored. He would definitely be having more cuddles later, though hopefully they would be able to watch a movie at the same time too. 

“Do you wanna go see my twain twack?” Tony asked as he turned around to look at the man. He knew that as much as he wanted to be carried, the other man might need some space so he reluctantly climbed down from his lap.

“Where is your track set up?” Bucky asked as he stood up next to the child and gave a stretch.

“On the common floor, we have a bunch of twacks set up so we can even wace da twains,” he said happily.

“Sounds like it’ll be really fun bug,” he said with a grin of his own. The child’s excitement was contagious as well. He held the child’s hand and made his way towards the steps.

Tony allowed the man to lead though he looked back at the elevator in confusion. “Why we taking da steps?” He asked curiously, wondering if the man didn’t see the elevator there.

“Because the elevator only has one exit, and we will be sitting ducks if something were to happen,” Bucky replied honestly. “However if we take the stairs that gives us a fighting chance of coming out okay,” he added quickly not wanting to scare the child.

“I not dat good wiff steps Bucky,” Tony said fearfully as he looked down the stairs with trepidation.

“I am, so you have nothing to worry about Tony,” Bucky replied easily as he bent down and picked up the boy. He adjusted the child so his metal arm was holding the child securely on his hip as he descended the stairs. 

Tony laid his head against the man’s neck relishing in the comfort as Bucky led them downstairs to the common room floor. There Tony pointed out all of train tracks, jabbering away at what they could do. 

He was just so excited that he had a playmate and he wasn’t at all wary of Bucky Barnes. The tiny tot allowed the man to place him on the floor and he eagerly made his way to place his train on the track, instructing the man to do the same. There he started playing.

~*~*~A few hours later*~*~*~*~*

Bucky was fairly amused at how much energy the child seemed to have, they had gone from racing trains, to building puzzles, to coloring and then to playing with Avenger toys no less. He had been more than thrilled to let the boy have his fun, and if he hadn’t of had all of his training he thought he would have been more than a little run down.  
As it was he had loads of patience, which led him to watching the child more to make sure he didn’t injure himself in his excitement. He laughed lightly as he saw the boy jumping up once more wanting to show him something else and he was amazed at his exuberance. He just went with it.

Tony was in love with Bucky, the older man didn’t seem to be getting annoyed with him at all. As it was, he himself was starting to feel a bit tired but he didn’t want to stop. This was the most continuous fun that he could remember having in quite some time and of course he didn’t want it to end. As he stood up yet again to show Bucky this cool thing that Jarvis could do for them, he suddenly froze and found himself unable to move.

Bucky who had been watching the child, also froze and casually looked around trying to see if he could find the source of what had made the child react like that. “What’s the matter Tony?” He whispered out quietly.

The little boy didn’t answer right away too busy focusing on his body and trying very carefully to walk, only to find that he couldn’t. He made a distressed sound as his abdomen contracted heavily. “Oh no,” he whispered out, completely ignoring Bucky for the time being.

“What do you mean ‘oh no’? What’s happened?” Bucky repeated, his hand automatically dropping towards his back to where he had an emergency weapon to protect them if he needed too.

Tony flushed red in embarrassment as he felt the warm liquid starting to run down his pants leg. He couldn’t do anything to stop it, he had waited much too long and his body had decided for him. He swallowed thickly not wanting to see the man’s reaction to his accident at all. He couldn’t even run, because his bladder wasn’t yet empty.

Bucky released a sigh of relief when he realized what had the child so tensed. It honestly wasn’t that surprising, as he himself didn’t think to ask. This boy was practically a baby, and he had gotten caught up short. It happens, however he could also see the boy’s face and it was starting to switch between flight or fight.

And he knew as soon as the child finished Tony would try to run, because this child was smart. The tot would know he would have no chance against an adult and to hide would be the only way to stop from getting hurt. He was glad in that moment that he had personally killed Howard Stark. How dare that man treat this child that way? His own flesh and blood, it made Bucky sick.

Shaking the thoughts away he looked back at the child, knowing what was going to happen. He would need to stop him, and so as soon as it seemed the boy was finished, he quickly grabbed him and held him tight.

Tony gasped fearfully for the first time when Bucky grabbed him, he knew he had no chance of getting away. “I’m sowwy,” he whispered out sadly, knowing he was probably going to be in for it. 

“There is no reason to be sorry, I know you didn’t mean to do it. Let’s go see if we can get you cleaned up so we can finish playing,” Bucky said kindly as he carried the boy up the steps. “Where are your clothes?”

“In da penthouse,” Tony sniffled out dejectedly. 

“Is the elevator the only way up there?” Bucky asked, hoping that it wasn’t, as that was a dangerous safety hazard. 

“No, dey haff stairs, but I hafta pwess my hand against da wall,” Tony whimpered out.

“Okay, you do that when we come to the section of the wall. Calm down Tony, I’m not mad at you and this isn’t the first time I’ve had to clean up an accident,” Bucky said lightly knowing he needed to calm the child down before he did anything.

“Who else did you cwean up?” Tony asked in bewilderment. 

“I used to clean up Steve all the time, sometimes you cannot control your body Tony. That is a part of life. But I’m here for you and I will clean you up and after we can watch a movie and cuddle on the couch,” Bucky replied soothingly.

Tony smiled happily that did sound nice, and he was a little late on his nap today as well. That sounded like great fun. “What movie can we watch?”

“How about you pick?” Bucky said as he gestured to the top of the steps that they were on. He watched the little boy put his palm against the wall and a new set of stairs appeared. He had to admit that he was more than a little impressed. 

“Otay,” Tony said happily thinking on what he might just pick.

Bucky made his way up to the penthouse, noting in fondness how the child seemed to be calm now. He headed into the bedroom and grabbed a little outfit, as well as some clean underwear for the boy. Walking into the bathroom, he grabbed the bottle of what looked like baby shower gel and a towel before he made his way to the sink in the kitchen. The sink was upright so he wouldn’t have to bend over, not to mention it was open and he could see all of the vantage points unlike the bathroom. He was overly cautious because he had this child’s life to look out for as well. 

“I’m gonna set you on the counter and then I’ll wash you up Tony. Does that sound good?” He asked in a gentle tone.

“Yes dat sounds nice,” Tony said tiredly as he stuck his thumb in his mouth. He would leave it all to Bucky now, he was just exhausted from the ordeal and all that playing beforehand.

Bucky nodded before he got to work, turning on the water and making sure the water was warm for the child before he got him out of his wet clothes. Those he placed in the empty sink next to the one he had filled up with soap and water. Glancing around, he placed the child in the water. “How does that feel?”

“Good,” Tony whispered out as his little body relaxed in the warm water.

“Jarvis, are the Avengers still downtown?” Bucky asked, not wanting them to come home and him be ill-prepared.

“Yes, I can set a screen up so you may follow them?” J.A.R.V.I.S stated unsure of what the man wanted.

“No, I don’t need to see it,” Bucky replied quickly. He would have liked too, but he didn’t want the child getting scared. How was he going to explain that to the other James? It was obvious that Tony had two overprotective James looking out for him. 

Knowing the child would be falling asleep soon, he got him bathed and dressed before placing his wet clothes in the soapy water to soak. Someone else could get it out and place them in the washer later. Picking up the child yet again, he headed back towards the steps and followed them down to the common room.

Even though the child was practically asleep, if Tony was in anyway stubborn like Steve he would force himself to stay awake to watch the intro of the movie just to prove it that he could. As he came down to the common floor, he stepped over the child’s toys, planning on picking them up later once the boy was fully asleep. Not to mention he still needed to clean up Tony’s accident on the floor. 

There was no need to leave a big mess for someone else to clean up, not when he was fully capable of doing it. He sat down on the couch and kicked off of his shoes before he laid down. He wanted to make sure the little boy got a good rest and was safe from falling off of the couch. Once they were situated and he had Tony laying on his torso, he gently ran his hand through the child’s hair. 

“What movie did you wish to watch bug?” He asked quietly. 

Tony didn’t even open his eyes, the hand in his hair feeling amazing and lying against Bucky’s body had him feeling so safe. Not to mention the man’s pet name for him, it warmed him on the inside like no other. He could care less what they watched just as long as he didn’t have to move from his current position. However, he knew he had to settle on something. “We can watch Awaddin,” he decided happily knowing that Bucky himself might even enjoy it.

Bucky glanced up at the ceiling where he constantly heard Jarvis’s voice and hesitantly spoke yet again. “May we watch Aladdin please?” He asked, feeling slightly stupid for talking to what seemed like no one.

“Of course,” Jarvis replied as he set up the movie and turned it on.

Bucky turned to look at the movie as it started, his gaze jumping from Tony and back to the screen. He kept running his hand through the child’s hair as he could feel the boy relaxing bonelessly against him. He was very impressed at the picture, and found to his surprise that he quite liked it. 

Bucky was very much aware that Tony was long gone asleep but he still didn’t stop his ministrations in the child’s hair. The boy’s hair was very soft and it was a very soothing feeling to him. He smiled to himself feeling very much at peace in this moment, wishing that it would never end. He didn’t even notice when the film got quieter and he started to doze off. 

~*~*~*Couple of Hours Later~*~*~*~*

If the A.I. that was Jarvis could smile he would be, he was currently making sure that this footage was in a secure place as he was sure that his creator would enjoy it immensely. This was what he needed and he was so glad that so many people were taking the time to give his young sir a chance. Not to mention this was the first time that he had seen James Barnes, allow himself to relax like this and he didn’t want anyone to ruin it. 

He was happy that the rest of the team was out. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, he heard the Helicarrier land on the landing pad. He initiated locked down on the common room floor, making it inaccessible via both the stairs and the elevator before he turned his eyes so to speak to where the rest of the team was. He also activated the soundproof walls, he knew how sensitive the soldier’s ears were and he did not want to spook him. 

Rhodey wasn’t in the mood for anything but for seeing how Tony was. It was after 7pm, and he was thankful that they had already had lunch before they left otherwise the tiny tot would have been starving as it was way passed dinner now. He didn’t currently hear anything and he was slightly worried, as silence with Tony Stark of any age was a bad thing.  
Not to mention the fact that the Winter Soldier was somewhere in the tower and he really wanted the little boy in his arms at this very moment. He was so glad that Clint had decided to debrief later, once they were in the tower. He wasn’t going to go to S.H.I.E.L.D either way as he was not a part of the Avengers team. Rhodey shook his head and headed towards the elevator and got on. 

Once there he noted almost immediately that the button for the common floor wasn’t lit nor was it working. He stood there for a while contemplating what it was that Jarvis was trying to say. He didn’t realize how much time had passed until the rest of team appeared in the elevator with him. 

“I thought you would already be upstairs with Tony by now,” Clint said in confusion once he saw the man.

“Jarvis has locked us out,” Rhodey replied quietly knowing he could get up there if he truly wanted too. Tony had given both him and Pepper complete access to his tower.

However, he knew that there had to be a reason for Jarvis to do such a thing in the first place. He knew that there was an explanation he just had to ask. 

“Why would he do that? Has something happened to Tony?” Bruce asked quietly.

“Did Bucky get free Jarvis?” Steve found himself asking, worried for the first time that something had happened regarding the two of them. 

“If you would press the floor below the common area, I would like to show you something. All of your questions will soon be answered as well,” Jarvis answered cryptically.

Trusting his friend’s A.I., Rhodey pressed the floor, the silence almost becoming unbearable before he exited and took a seat on the chair there. “What do you need to show us Jarvis?”

“What happened today in the tower when you left,” Jarvis replied. “Get comfortable,” he added.

Steve sighed, getting a bit annoyed and more impatient but he did do as he was told. If he didn’t listen there was a chance that he wouldn’t even be told. And he didn’t want to be kept in the dark, especially because it was about Tony and Bucky. 

Jarvis kept his one of his eyes on the two sleeping in the common room, and showed the Avengers the last couple of hours they had missed when they were out saving the city. He knew that they would all be in for a big surprise. And until they accepted what it was that had happened, they would not be allowed to go up to the common floor. That would be detrimental for both Mr. Barnes and his creator. And Tony would always come first.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone recently asked me if this was abandoned. Its was a nice wake up call. I actually completely forgot all about my stories. Life was and still is in the way. But I've given up my 2nd job in favor of trying to be less stressful and I took the last two days to write this. I wanted to add on it more but it would have been 10,000 words and while nice, it's easier to space them out so I can get at least one chapter ahead so I don't slack off again. Thanks for waiting patiently.

Chapter 8

When the video ended there was complete silence around the room, as each person seemed trying to gather their thoughts on what they had just seen. For Steve in particular, he was grinning proudly at what he had seen. Maybe this meant that Bucky would one day be 100% like he had been once before. While he himself was speechless, not everyone was.

James Rhodes wasn’t sure how to feel at the moment. He had known from the moment they left that Tony wouldn’t stay put. It wasn’t in the man’s, or now the little boy’s nature to do what he was told. He was just surprised as how gentle the other man had been with him.

“Jarvis, do you really think the trigger word is a mixture of Russian and German?” Natasha asked, ever the spy and wondering what they could do about it.

“I do, he was taken and tortured by those who spoke those particular languages. It makes sense that it would not be in English and like I told young sir, there is no way that he could trigger Mr. Barnes. You on the other hand could, so I would be careful speaking Russian or German with him,” he warned lightly.

Natasha nodded curtly, knowing she would stick with English for the time being. She turned her gaze back to the video that showed them still sleeping. “How did he not hear us?”

“I turned on the soundproofing, neither of them take kindly to being rudely awaken. I believe Mr. Barnes would shoot first and ask questions later,” J.A.R.V.I.S replied honestly.

“But isn’t that dangerous to Tony?” Clint asked quietly.

“You misunderstand me, Mr. Barnes would shoot you with one hand, while his other hand and body would move to protect young sir. I think you’ve found that my creator can be quite adorable when he wants to be and quite easy to love in this form,” the A.I. replied truthfully.

“Isn’t that the truth,” Rhodey replied with a grin. “What’s the next course of action then Jarvis?” He asked, fully trusting his friend’s A.I. 

“Allow me to wake them up, and then send the Doctor in,” J.A.R.V.I.S answered easily.

“Why Bruce?” Steve asked quietly, wondering why he wasn’t being asked to go in first.

“Mr. Barnes contrary to belief, trusts the Doctor. He associates him with being the cook in the Tower and he can feel how protective the man and his ‘other guy’ are of my creator. He would be quite comfortable with you in here Doctor, to know that if something happens you would protect Tony from him,” The A.I. intelligently replied.

“And he would protect Tony from me if need be. I see we do understand each other,” Bruce muttered out bitterly to himself but mostly everyone else heard anyway. He nodded before he headed towards the elevator. 

He turned towards Rhodey who was staring with a stoic expression on his face and he sighed quietly, as it was obvious what the man wanted but it wasn’t his place at the moment. The A.I. could be quite scary when he wanted to be. Bruce took a deep breath as the elevator climbed to the common room floor, waiting even as the door opened as he didn’t want to accidentally spook Barnes.

“Jarvis, is he aware that I am here?” Bruce asked quietly.

“Yes, I have let him know who is coming,” The A.I. answered back.

“The moment of truth then,” the doctor grumbled out, hoping everything would be alright and he wouldn’t hulk out. He took another deep breath before he walked out of the elevator, and looked towards the couch. The soldier was no longer laying on the couch but was looking silently back at him. He noted in fond amusement that the child was cuddled quite close to his chest.

Bucky had been beating himself up when he slept through the Avengers arrival. He had hoped to be back up and in Steve’s room without them being the wiser. He had never even planned on falling asleep and the A.I. that was Tony’s seemed to be conspiring against him. The child thankfully was asleep as far as he could tell, and he wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.

He didn’t need to hear them all arguing and assume that they were fighting because of him. He had remembered how fragile children’s emotions were. Especially given today and when Tony had his accident. He did not want to revisit that hysterical child again. 

“Do you mind if I get started on dinner?” Bruce asked quietly as he stopped just inside the doorway of the living room.

“No I don’t mind, I guess I should probably wake him up then,” Bucky said lightly before he chewed his lip for a moment. “Do you think that Tony’s A.I. could send the other James down next? I know how protective he is of him and he’s got to be out of his mind with worry now,” he added quietly.

“He is, but he trusts Jarvis to have Tony’s best interest at heart. Anyway, thanks for looking after Tony today, I know you didn’t have too and that the child can be a bit much at times,” Bruce said apologetically.

“It wasn’t a big deal, and the little one sought me out. Besides I do have experience dealing with little ones like him. I had a younger sister once and of course Steve, without me the little bugger wouldn’t have survived his childhood,” he said fondly.

Bruce was quite surprised at how open the other man was being, but he supposed that he hadn’t really given the man a chance. And he felt some type away about it, but he promised himself that he would be better. “Of course, I’m going to get started on dinner. Did you have any preferences?” He asked kindly.

“I don’t but Tony might,” Bucky said with a small smirk.

“I know what foods that little one likes not to worry,” Bruce said fondly before he made his way past the man and into the kitchen. He breathed a sigh of relief once he was out of the man’s view, though he noted that it hadn’t been that difficult to turn his back on the man. Which was strange and interesting all in one, he supposed that the Hulk and the Winter Soldier really did understand one another. 

~&~&Line~&~&~

Bucky breathed out a quite sigh of relief when the Doctor passed them and headed into the kitchen. He looked up at the ceiling, before his eyes went back to the sleeping child in his arms. “You can send the other James up, I won’t attack him,” he murmured knowing Tony’s A.I. would hear him. 

“If you insist,” Jarvis said quietly before turning his eyes on to the rest of the Avengers. 

Rhodey watched the calm conversation of Bruce and Bucky in slight awe, the soldier didn’t have that crazed or dead look he usually had in his eyes when they had dealt with him in the past. He perked up slightly however when the man of the hour spoke to Jarvis, and before the A.I. had to say anything Rhodey was already on the elevator. 

“Thank you Jarvis,” Rhodey said quietly once the elevator doors were closed.

“For what Colonel?” Jarvis asked, unsure of what his creator’s best friend meant.

“For everything,” Rhodey said not wanting to elaborate on it, watching the numbers get closer and closer to Tony. He sighed softly before he walked out of the elevator as the door opened. 

Bucky was gently prodding the child in his arms, as he knew everything would go much smoother if Tony was awake. Not to mention Bucky wanted to see how the child was going to weasel his way out of his conversation with the other James. The little boy had totally disobeyed him and he wanted to know what was going to happen.

Tony whined softly as he pushed the hands that were poking him in the side. “I sweeping,” he whined out.

“We have company Anthony, time to wake up,” Bucky said quietly.

“Only Thowr calls me dat, I’m Tony,” Tony said with a frown as he opened his eyes to give the man a dirty look.

Before Bucky could comment on that, someone else beat him to the punch. “Anthony Edward Stark, what were you thinking?” Rhodey called out calmly.

Tony could admit to himself, that both his adult mind and child mind froze at such a tone. He swallowed thickly before he turned with a sheepish look towards the voice of his best friend. 

“Whodey, I can expwain,” he rushed out as he slid off the soldier to fully look at him. He made his eyes as wide and innocent as they could go, and at this age he looked pretty darn adorable and innocent if he could say so himself. 

“Oh you can? Then please do Anthony I’m all ears,” Rhodey said just managing to keep a straight face at the child’s expression. He refused to be suckered in by the cute expression on the boy’s face. Not to mention, he knew that if he called him Tony then the boy would know that he was only kidding and he didn’t want to do that yet.

“Well, see, what actually happened was when you guys weft me, I got weally lonely,” Tony stammered out.

“Oh? And what happened to that promise you gave me before we left?” Rhodey said allowing a smirk to finally grace his face. It seems that kid Tony didn’t have such a mask as adult Tony and as such he couldn’t even try to be annoyed with it. It all worked out didn’t it?

Tony chewed his lip thoughtfully before turning back to Bucky for some help, but the other man wasn’t even looking at him. “I sowwy?” Tony said hopefully, wondering if he was going to be in trouble for this.

“You will be when I get done with you,” Rhodey said before grinning and running at the child. “Tickle Attack!” He yelled out fondly.

Tony gasped before turning around and running as fast as his little legs could carry him, giggling the entire time. He knew it was only a matter of time until Rhodey caught him and he couldn’t wait to be tickled mercilessly. “You’ll nevew catch me!” He shrieked out.

“Yes I will, here I come!” Rhodey replied as he ran easily after that the child, following him as he weaved and out of places so he wouldn’t get caught.

Bucky shook his head before chuckling as the Iron Patriot caught the child and started tickling his sides. He was way to amused and easily started to clean up the messes they had made earlier, completely relaxed at this point. As he turned to grab one of the child’s trains to set it back on the track he made eye contact with the other James. 

He only gave a slight nod at him before turning back to what he was doing. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this light. He knew he wasn’t completely healed but it had been a long time since he remembered feeling this good.

~*~*~*~Line Break~*~*~*~*

For Dinner that night, Bruce had made a lovely meal of Spaghetti and Meatballs with salad and Garlic bread which they all enjoyed immensely. Tony himself was incredibly happy as he sat in between both of his James’s as the adults talked. He couldn’t feel the tension that had been in the tower for the last few days or so. 

The Team thankfully wasn’t in any danger of breaking up anymore and he was glad. The best part about all this, was that Rhodey was still going to be staying with them for a while. Tony yawned tiredly before leaning into Bucky’s side, curiously noting that the man only put an arm around him as he continued his conversation with Natasha. 

“I think it’s time for someone’s bedtime,” Clint remarked softly as he saw the little boy’s eyes flitter shut.

“He only needs to put his pajamas on, I gave him a bath earlier today,” Bucky said as he gently picked up the child and held him off to the other James. He shook his head in bemusement, he would need to pick something to call the man or this was going to get confusing. 

“Not a problem, I’ll set him up in my room on this floor and then come back so we can talk about what we need to do now,” Rhodey said seriously. He knew they had refrained from talking about missions or anything Avenger related at the dinner table because of the child.

They didn’t want him getting any ideas, not to mention what if they triggered something in his memory. He could only imagine his adult friend stuck in the body of a child and how he would react. No; it was much safer to talk about such things when the boy was out or sleeping. 

They would have to ask J.A.R.V.I.S. to keep an eye out on him, they didn’t want him overhearing anything if he woke up before he was supposed to. He had an idle thought of the Penthouse, but he didn’t want Tony that far away from them, even if he could get in. He shook the thought away and got the child into his sleep things before he laid him down on the bed. Making sure the bathroom light was lit to give the room a small glow, he closed the bedroom door before making his way back to the common room kitchen. Rhodey retook his seat at the kitchen table that was now devoid of any food or dishes. He didn’t say anything, taking that moment to look around at the rest of Tony’s teammates. 

“So, before we discuss anything, I need to know where we stand. Are Bucky and I still on the outs with the team, or are we allowed to still stay here?” Steve said bluntly, even as his heart thudded wildly in his chest. 

Here the rest of the Avengers looked to Rhodey who only gave them an arch eyebrow in response before sighing. “I suppose so, J.A.R.V.I.S. feels that having Bucky here would be extremely beneficial to Tony’s well-being, so I guess so. Just note that if you ever do something else like this in the future, you will be out. I give no fucks when it comes to Tony or his safety,” Rhodey said seriously.

“Duly noted Colonel, it will not happen again,” Steve promised him before breathing out a sigh of relief. “Will you be informing Ms. Potts then?”

“I will, right after we get done here,” James replied, not sure how Pepper would react. At least not until Jarvis showed her the footage they had seen.

Steve nodded before he turned to the rest of his Team. “I’m not sure when Thor is planning on coming back, but until he does we will continue to be down two crucial team members. Thankfully the Colonel as decided to stay for a while, purely Tony’s benefit of course but he has said he will help us,” Steve started out.

“That’s good, hopefully Frigga will be able to help us like Thor said,” Natasha said seriously.

“Me too. I miss my lab buddy,” Bruce said fondly. 

“I know today wasn’t ideal for everyone but it did work out. And I think that we might be able to use Bucky’s skills in the field, so there is that,” Steve added slyly.

“Yes I do agree, I do want to see what the other James can do on our team with us,” Rhodey said with a smirk.

“I look forward to fighting with you,” Bucky said with the same expression. Oh this would be fun indeed. 

As much as Clint enjoyed the camaraderie it seemed they all were forgetting something. “And who will stay here with Tony?” He pointed out.

“I will,” Bruce said quietly, sometimes there were missions that the Hulk wasn’t needed on. And he didn’t like fighting anyway, so this was a win-win in his book.

“I don’t know Bruce,” Natasha said carefully. Her mind already going through the possibilities of him Hulking out in the tower with only the child here. Who would protect Tony from Bruce?

“I have never Hulked out here, though if ever I do both J.A.R.V.I.S. and I both know what to do. My room is equipped as well as a room in the tower to handle the Hulk,” Bruce said as he took off her glasses to look at her. It seemed there would always be someone out there who would continue to think the worse of him.

“I think it’s a good idea, you gave me a chance, why is the Doctor so different?” Bucky replied lowly, as he turned his gaze to his once red room companion. The Hulk and the Winter Soldier was so alike it was scary, why could she accept one but not the other?

Natasha turned away from those dark eyes before she stood up and shook her head. “I’ve said my part, if anything changes, I’m sure Clint will let me know. As it is, I’m going to bed,” she said before turning and walking out of the kitchen. 

She couldn’t explain to them how Bruce differentiated from James. She after all knew what James was capable of, the Hulk was a wild card in her book and she couldn’t trust it. That’s not to mean she didn’t trust the Doctor, but when they were one in the same, it was hard to separate them.

“Forget about her, I think it’s a good idea,” Clint said quietly as he watched his partner walk out of the room. He wasn’t sure what was up with her lately.

“I agree,” Rhodey replied easily, knowing how gentle Bruce was with Tony. 

Bruce wasn’t super surprised that Natasha didn’t believe him capable of taking care of Tony. But he had learned long ago, that someone people were stuck in their ways. He would never do anything to endanger Tony. Tony had accepted him when no one else did, why on earth would he ever want hurt him?

~*~*~*~A Few days later*~*~*~*~*

A couple of days later saw the Avengers and their guest getting used to one another in the tower. Thankfully Tony was easy to diffuse any extra tension that might have popped up before even realizing it. As it was, they were currently getting ready to head down to the swimming pool for a pool day with the child. 

Tony was ecstatic as he swung his and Bucky’s metal arm as they headed to the pool. He was super excited to have all of his teammates more or less focused on him. The adult in him could feel a bit of tension between Bruce and Natasha but it didn’t concern him. He was only 4 years old after all, and they could handle whatever it was that was going on. The tiny tot tugged on the hand that was attached to him and smiled as the owner grinned at him in return.

“Up pwease,” he requested, his free hand reaching up towards the man.

“Of course bug, are you excited to swim again?” Bucky said as he swung the child up in his arms, and settled him on his hip.

“Yes, I not that good of a swimmer but Bwuce and Cwint said dey would teach me,” Tony said proudly. “Can you swim Bucky?”

“Yes, I’ll be there to help you as well,” Bucky replied seriously. He took his role of protector very seriously, just like the other James. 

“Good,” Tony said before he pressed his cheek against the other man’s happily.

The tiny tot turned to look over at Steve, and make a funny face only to cringe and immediately slap his hands over his ears, at the loud blaring alarm resounded around the tower.

“Fuck, why is it that whenever we actually strive to do something with Tony, we get called to assemble?” Clint spat out as Steve calmly asked Jarvis to silence the alarm.

Tony’s eyes were wide as he slowly took his hands from around his ears, and looked from his teammates before he was looking at Rhodey. “No swimming?” He asked, the adult in him quite sad to hear how pitiful his little voice sounded. He had been looking forward to this too!

“I’m really sorry Tony, but not right now at least,” Rhodey said softly.

Tony bit his lip before he wiggled in the arms who currently held him, so the man would let him go. He didn’t want to watch them get ready, knowing that they would just leave him here all alone again.

“Don’t be like that kiddo, we will be back,” Clint promised him as he ruffled his hair before he hurried out of the room to get suited up.

Bucky sighed, refusing to let the child down as he knew the boy would probably go run away and hide and cry somewhere. And he would rather be able to comfort the child immediately instead of having to find him first. “I’ll stay behind,” he volunteered.

“No, I think we might need you, it doesn’t seem like too much to handle. This is what we were actually talking about, Bruce you can stay here with Tony,” Steve decided as he watched the t.v that was monitoring the situation downtown.

Tony perked up at that, his own gaze going to the television as he caught a look at who exactly was wreaking havoc in the city. “It’s Doctow Doom! Why do you guys gotta go? He’s da Fantastic Fouw nemesis,” Tony pouted out, bottom lip actually poking out at that. This wasn’t even fair.

“I don’t even want to know, how you know that Tony,” Rhodey said in amusement as he watched the Black Widow hurry out of the room.

“With Bucky on our side, we easily have the opportunity to knock him out for the count. I think that the Fantastic Four might be out of the country. Otherwise they would be all over this and Fury wouldn’t have even contacted us,” Steve mused before he nodded to the remaining superheros. “Let’s go,”

“Be good for the Doctor bug,” Bucky said as he kissed the top of the child’s head before he passed the child over to Bruce.

“I will, bye Whodey, bye Bucky, bye Stebe!” Tony called out as he absently played with Bruce’s hair.

Tony was surprised as the Avengers left the tower via the Quinjet that they had left him alone with Bruce. He smiled brightly as the man of the hour, set him on his feet carefully. “Let’s go to youw woom,” Tony said happily.

“Lead the way little guy,” Bruce said easily, feeling more in control of the Hulk then he ever felt. See he had a hunch that despite the earlier issues that this was going to be a good day. 

Tony led the way to the elevator, pressing the button for Bruce’s floor before he gazed up at the man happily, even as a dark feeling in his chest tried to make him sad. He shook his head firmly trying to ignore it, but he couldn’t. What was going on? “Bwuce, can I ask you somefing?” He asked softly.

“Of course Tony,” Bruce said bending down so he was on the child’s eye level.

“How come Bucky didn’t stay wiff me wike last time?” Tony asked quietly.

“Because Steve believed that he would be a better asset to the team today,” Bruce replied honestly.

“But Bucky isn’t an Avenger,” Tony pointed out.

“Well not officially, but he will be eventually,” Bruce told him truthfully. 

Tony swore his heart stopped for a moment, his little hand coming to rest on the arc reactor, wincing at the painful sensation that caused him. He gasped out softly, as his little eyes filled with tears. What did this all mean for him then? Had they given up on finding a cure for him? Was Bucky to be his replacement for the team?

“Tony, what’s the matter? Is the arc reactor? Is it hurting you? Talk to me buddy,” Bruce stated frantically as he saw the anguished look on the boy’s face. 

Tony rested his little chin on his chest, as his body gave off a rather painful hiccup as he tried to keep his sobs to himself. The tiny tot fell to his knees as he gasped for air, he had thought that the lack of pain from the device he hadn’t been feeling had healed him somewhat but he had been sorely mistaken.

He couldn’t stop the tears from falling down his face from both the grief from being replaced as well as the pain of the reactor. He could hear Bruce but he couldn’t answer him, at least not yet. He had to wait until the fit had passed. It felt like forever until finally he could catch his breath, his lungs on fire but not as intense as before. “I okay,” he gasped out.

“You most certainly are not okay,” Bruce said, his hands shaking from fear and the tips of fingers returning to their normal skin color instead of the green tint they had gone. They had assumed that the arc reactor wasn’t causing the child any pain but that was a mistake on their part. He would be discussing this as soon as everyone else came back. As it was, they were going up to his room to rest for a bit. He didn’t want the child to strain himself again. 

Tony closed his eyes, calmly catching his breath and waiting until the pain was just a dull throb in the back of mind. He leaned against the man’s leg, before he felt himself getting picked up.

“We are going to go lay down for a bit,” Bruce told him tightly. He had been so afraid for a moment, unsure of how he could help the child. 

Tony only nodded, unable to verbal protest. It had been a long time since he had a fit such as that one. For just a moment he had felt like he was actually going to die, and the child part of him had been terrified. He never wanted to feel terror like that again.

Bruce stepped off the elevator and carried the child towards his bedroom where he carefully laid on the bed with the child resting on his chest. “Just try to relax Tony,” he told the tiny child.

“Kay,” Tony breathed out as he tried to relax by matching his breathing to Bruce’s.

The Doctor wanted the child to relax as much as possible but at the same time he needed to the arc reactor. He hoped it hadn’t move, he hadn’t given it much thought because he often forget that the device was under the child’s shirt. It was an oversight on all their parts but it would be rectified soon enough. “Okay buddy, I need to take off your shirt okay?” He said calmly.

“Why?” Tony asked curiously.

“I need to check that the reactor hasn’t shifted,” Bruce said softly.

Tony the adult part of him that is, knew that his science bro had a point, and he trusted no one other than him, Jarvis and Pepper and Rhodey to do this for him. “Otay,” he said softly before he carefully moved off the man. “You haff to hewp,” Tony told him knowing from previous fits that it might hurt to lift his arms so soon. 

Bruce nodded as he carefully pulled the shirt off the child. He sighed softly at how inflamed the boy’s chest look, littered with scars as it was. “Oh Tony,” he said morosely.

“It’s not dat bad,” Tony said softly as he looked down at his little chest himself.

“I just wish we had of known this was hurting you all this time,” Bruce said quietly, his tone displaying how much the child’s chest affected him. How could they not have realized this? He ignored the stirring in his gut, as he took a deep breath, he needed to remain calm or he would end up proving Natasha right.

Tony didn’t like the sad tone that Bruce had and quickly turned around so the man didn’t have to see his chest anymore. He didn’t realize that his teammate was fighting for control or he would have just put his shirt back on. As it was, he wasn’t even thinking about the array of scars, caused by his father’s belt that covered his little back. He just didn’t want Bruce to be hurting anymore on his behalf.

It was out of his control, Bruce realized as the moment he saw the child’s crisscrossed scars that covered his tiny back, his self-restraint snapped. “Tony run!” He growled out as he got off the bed and tried to get out of the room before he transformed. It didn’t happen, as he let out a loud roar and his vision faded to black.

Tony jolted, his little head turning to look at his friend, as his alter ego quickly emerged instead. “Bwuce!” His little mind screamed out before his adult mind gained a moment of control and toppled over the bed and crawled underneath it.

He didn’t need to scream for Jarvis and he could hear his A.I. already doing something he just didn’t know what. He could hear the Hulk stomping through the rooms, knowing it was on lock down mode and while he was amazed that everything worked, he never expected to be in here with him. At least not in his child form. 

“Young sir, please stay where you are until I can get Doctor Banner, a few rooms away from you for you to escape,” Jarvis stated his tone tight as he worried just for his creator’s safety.

“Bruce won’t hurt me Jarvis,” Tony promised him.

“I don’t want to take that risk sir,” Jarvis told him frankly.

Tony knew his A.I. was right, especially because he didn’t even have the Iron Man’s suit to count on if something went bad, but he had a feeling. A good feeling in his heart that the Hulk would not hurt him. The only reason Bruce even hulked out was because he had seen how hurt his tiny body was. 

Ignoring the reasoning of his A.I. Tony carefully slid out from underneath the bed. He noted in pride that all the reinforced furniture and walls were still in impeccable condition. Swallowing his nervousness, he carefully started his trek to see where his wayward teammate had gone. 

Tony as stealthily as his little four-year-old body could be, made his way through the apartment, until he came to the source of the noise. The Hulk was growling and was smashing on the window, that thankfully wasn’t giving out. He didn’t even think about it, he just ran out into the room. “Hulk you stop dat, if you bweak da window you’we gonna get in twouble!” The tiny tot yelled out.

The Green monster, known as the Hulk turned from where he had been pushing the window trying to get free and faced the small human. He had remembered Bruce, he had seen how someone had hurt this child, this child who he knew to be the ‘tin man’. The tin man, belonged to him, and to have someone hurt something that belonged to Hulk, made him very angry indeed. 

Tony swallowed the fear at the lack of recognition in those green eyes, feeling that for once this might have been a truly bad idea. “Bwuce?” He croaked out, frozen stiff in his fear.

“Bwuce gone, Hulk out now. Who hurt my tin man?” Hulk grunted out. 

Tony quirked a smile at the possessiveness he could hear in the Hulk’s tone. He would need to watch this footage over much later with Bruce to show him, as the man would never believe him. It would have to wait until he was aged up of course, but he could be very patient. “My daddy, but he’s dead now,” Tony replied childishly.

“Bruce help tiny boy?” Hulk asked out.

“Yes, my Bwuce is hewping me awot,” Tony said with a grin.

“Good, Hulk help tiny boy too, come on,” Hulk said as he stomped over to the child and gently lifted him to sit on his shoulders. 

Tony giggled as he looked around from this vantage point, feeling completely at ease. He no longer felt any fear, he just felt like he had gain yet another protector and that made him feel very good inside. “Whewe we going?”

“To rest, tiny boy need his sleep,” Hulk rumbled out.

The child could admit that he was in fact tired and didn’t protest, watching in bemusement as the Hulk carried him back towards the bedroom. But instead of setting him down on the bed, the green man took a seat on the floor and carefully cradled the child in his arms. “Hulk protect tiny boy,” he declared.

“I’m Tony,” Tony told him as he snuggled in the Hulk’s arm.

“Hulk protect Tony, now go sleep Tony,” the Hulk said as he quieted down so as not to disturb the child.

Tony smiled softly and closed his eyes, and relaxed. It didn’t take long for the little boy to fall into a restful sleep, carefully cradled in the green Giants arms.


End file.
